MPs move to lodge motion to strip Prince Andrew of dukedom

Prince Andrew during a visit to HMS Duncan to mark the start of the Battle of Jutland centenary commemorations at Thames Quay in West India Dock, London.

MPs in England have moved to lodge a parliamentary motion to strip Prince Andrew of his dukedom.

The British government is facing mounting pressure over the prince’s residence in the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor, where it was revealed that he has not paid rent for more than two decades.

The UK business secretary, Peter Kyle, said it was “a matter for the palace” whether Andrew was permitted to remain there after the fresh allegations made against him about his relationship with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The Times reported that the lease, released under freedom of information laws, showed that Andrew paid £1m for the lease and at least £7.5m for refurbishments, but has paid only “one peppercorn (if demanded)” in rent each year since 2003 and he is entitled to live there until 2078.

The lease suggests that the crown estate would owe Prince Andrew about £558,000 if he gave up the lease.

The pressure comes amid fresh allegations made about the prince in the posthumous memorial by Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, who said she had sex with Andrew on three separate occasions. 

She also said the prince’s team tried to “hire internet trolls” to “hassle” her online.

Her ghostwriter, Amy Wallace, said she “would view it as a victory that Andrew was forced, by whatever means, to voluntarily give them [the titles] up” calling it a “symbolic gesture”.

The lease suggests that the crown estate would owe Prince Andrew about £558,000 if he gave up the lease.

She told the BBC’s Newsnight: “Virginia wanted all the men who she had been trafficked to, against her will, to be held to account, and this is just one of the men.” 

There are few avenues for MPs to act to formally remove the titles, which would require an act of parliament, which the government does not intend to initiate unless requested by the palace. 

On Tuesday, the SNP lodged an early-day motion (EDM) to formally remove Prince Andrew’s title as Duke of York, which he has said he will no longer use.

MPs are not permitted to criticise royals during parliamentary debates, but EDMs that usually carry very little parliamentary weight are one of the only ways that the conduct of a royal can be raised.

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, said: “If the Westminster parties remain stubbornly slow in removing Prince Andrew’s titles – the SNP will do all we can to force them to act.

“Prince Andrew’s titles can only be removed by an act of parliament – therefore this SNP motion is a way to pile pressure on the UK Labour government to bring forward that legislation immediately.

“The only real question is what Keir Starmer’s government is waiting for. The public knows this is the right thing to do, and even more importantly the victims at the heart of the Epstein scandal know that it’s the right thing to do. It needs to be done without any further excuses and any further delay.”