Disgraced former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor faces being stripped of his honorary vice-admiral rank and could even lose his medals, ministers say.
Andrew was made a vice-admiral on his 55th birthday in 2015 and retained the rank after giving up his other military positions in 2022 amid controversy over his friendship with the late US financier and convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
But now Defence Secretary John Healey has suggested he could lose those honours in yet a further humiliation after ceding his titles of Prince and Duke of York.
The new moves would need the blessing of King Charles, a former Royal Navy officer and Andrew’s elder brother, Mr Healey said.
Mr Healey told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: ‘In general, the Government’s been guided by the decisions and judgments the King has made.
‘In defence, it’s exactly the same – and we’ve seen Andrew surrender the honorary positions he’s had throughout the military, and guided again by the King, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has.’
Asked whether Andrew could lose his military medals as well, Mr Healey said they were ‘medals for his service’ – Andrew having been part of Navy efforts in the 1982 Falklands War against Argentina.
Mr Healey added: ‘I don’t have an update for you on that, but just as with his vice-admiral rank and title, we would be guided by the decisions the King makes.’
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor served with the Royal Navy in the 1982 Falklands War – he is pictured here arriving back at Portsmouth Harbour after travelling on HMS Invincible
It has now been suggested that the former prince could lose his Vice Admiral ranking and medals – he is seen here at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh in September 2022
Andrew was 22 when he served as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands War – and was pictured with a rose in his mouth when welcomed back at Portsmouth Harbour, after arriving on HMS Invincible, by family including the late Queen Elizabeth II.
He was three years into his military career when he joined the taskforce which sailed 8,000 miles to the South Atlantic following the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands.
He was hailed at the time for manoeuvring his Sea King so it acted as a decoy target to divert Exocet missiles away from ships.
He also took part in casualty evacuations and anti-submarine warfare and witnessed the deaths of 12 British sailors when Argentine rockets sank the SS Atlantic Conveyor.
When stripped of most of his military honours in 2022, he did retain the honorary rank of Vice Admiral which was granted by the Navy on his 55th birthday in 2015.
He had been due to be promoted to admiral on his 60th birthday in 2020 but asked to defer this after stepping down from public duties.
Andrew, who remained on the Navy’s Active List until 2001, had also been Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm, Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Lossiemouth, Royal Colonel of the Royal Highland Fusiliers (2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland) and Colonel-in-Chief of the 9th/12th Lancers, the Royal Irish Regiment, the Small Arms School Corps and the Yorkshire Regiment.
Buckingham Palace announced last Thursday how Andrew would no longer be known as a prince and would leave Royal Lodge in Windsor – instead taking up residence ahead on the family’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
Andrew served in the Falklands War and started his military career as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot in 1979
King Charles stripped his brother of titles after weeks of pressure to act over Andrew’s relationship with Epstein, who died in prison in August 2019 aged 66.
Andrew earlier last month said he would no longer use the title Duke of York following revelations about his friendship with Epstein and renewed sexual abuse allegations by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre in her posthumous memoir.
The Mail on Sunday last month revealed how Andrew tried to involve the Metropolitan Police and one of Queen Elizabeth’s most senior aides in a campaign to smear Ms Giuffre, who had accused him of assaulting her as a teenager.
An email exposed how Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded police bodyguard to investigate the ‘lying’ young woman.
The prince is said to have passed on details of her date of birth and social security number, thought to have been given to him by Epstein.
He also claimed Virginia, who took her own life earlier this year, had criminal convictions, a claim which has not been backed up by any evidence or confirmed by police and has been strongly denied by her family.
An earlier email exposé proved that Andrew lied to Buckingham Palace and the British public when he claimed he had cut off all contact with his close friend in December 2010, following Epstein’s release from prison on child-sex charges.
Twelve weeks later, he emailed the sex offender financier to say they were ‘in this together’ and sickeningly expressed his wish to ‘play some more soon’.
Andrew in regalia of the 2nd Logistic Battalion in New Zealand. In 2022, he lost his honorary title of Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment
Ms Giuffre, who died by suicide in April, alleged she was forced to have sex three times with Andrew, which he vehemently denies, including when she was 17 and also during an orgy, after she was trafficked by Epstein.
Andrew paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with her in 2022, despite insisting he had never met her.
The King is said to have decided the fate of his brother Andrew with a phone call.
Palace insiders told the Times that Charles’s decision was a sign of the monarch’s ‘steel’ after he made a private phone call to Andrew to break the news of his decision, which was only made after the King wondered how his brother would cope.
A royal source said: ‘For a while, there were significant welfare issues. His entire raison d’être revolves around status. We were asking ourselves: “Can he cope?” In the end, we reached a tipping point and he was made to see sense.’
An insider also said: ‘In the past three years of the King’s reign we have seen his humanity, warmth and compassion,’ a royal source said. ‘Now, we’ve seen his steel.’
Buckingham Palace said on Thursday that the King’s moves against Andrew were ‘deemed necessary notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him’.
The statement said: ‘His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew.
A Royal Navy veteran, Andrew was named the Admiral of the Sea Cadet Corps until 2019. He is pictured aboard the Indian aircraft carrier INS Viraat in Mumbai, India, in May 2012
The ex-prince, who remained on the Navy’s Active List until 2001, was also Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm and Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Lossiemouth (pictured above)
‘Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence.
‘Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.
‘These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.
‘Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.’
It has been claimed Andrew is set to get a six-figure payout and an annual payment as part of his ‘relocation settlement’ after being forced out of the Royal Lodge.
The annual payment privately funded by the King would be potentially worth several times his £20,000-a-year Royal Navy pension.
The report of the payout comes as claims suggest that the decision to strip Andrew of his honours and titles was influenced by the Queen’s concerns about his impact on her work with sex abuse victims.
Camilla has supported survivors of sex attacks and domestic abuse for years and it was recently revealed in a new book that she herself fought off a man who groped her on a train when she was a teenager.
The King stripped his younger brother of his prince title and announced Andrew would move out of his home at the Royal Lodge in Windsor on Thursday night
The downfall of Andrew comes amid scandals surrounding his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein (pictured together in 2010)
The late Virginia Giuffre, whose posthumous autobiography has now been published, is seen here with a photo of herself – this picture was taken in 2022
Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell in a photo reportedly taken in 2001, when Giuffre was 17 years old
Andrew reportedly agreed to leave Windsor after his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson made it clear that she would be leaving the property.
She will not be moving to Sandringham and will have to find her own new home.
A statement released by Ms Giuffre’s family members following last Thursday’s announcement said they would ‘continue Virginia’s battle’ and that all abusers and abettors connected to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell needed to be held to account.’
Earlier this month, The Mail on Sunday published correspondence between Andrew and Epstein from 2011, revealing how Andrew told the disgraced financier that they should ‘keep in close touch’ and that they would ‘play some more soon’.