Prime Minister Mark Carney said Friday he believes Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor needs to be faraway from the road of succession to the British throne for his “deplorable” actions, but noted he would respect the method currently playing out within the country.
“Personally I do, yes,” Carney told reporters in Tokyo when asked concerning the former prince Andrew.
“There may be a process (underway) to define that process, but I definitely think his actions, that are deplorable and have caused him to be stripped of his royal title, definitely merit, if that’s the word — necessitate is a greater word — his removal from the road of succession. Despite the fact that he’s well down the road of succession, I feel the purpose, the principle, stands.”
The comments were notable coming from the leader of a member of the Commonwealth, all 14 of which would wish to approve a change to the road of succession.
Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal status last 12 months over his close links with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Nonetheless, he stays eighth in line to grow to be monarch because the younger brother of King Charles III.
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The British government confirmed last month it was “not ruling out motion” to vary that after Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office following the discharge of thousands and thousands of pages of files last month related to Epstein by the U.S. Justice Department.
Those documents led to accusations that the previous prince was sharing confidential trade information with the disgraced financier when he served as U.K. trade envoy from 2001 to 2011.
Mountbatten-Windsor was released at no cost after spending about 11 hours in custody, but he stays under investigation.
“The federal government is evident that we should not ruling out motion in respect of the road of succession at this stage, and we’ll consider whether any further steps are required sooner or later,” Darren Jones, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief secretary, told lawmakers after the arrest.
Removing someone from the road of succession would require an act of Parliament, which needs lawmakers’ approval.
Under the present line of royal succession, Charles’ son Prince William is heir to the throne and his three children — Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis — are next. Prince Harry is fifth, while his two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are sixth and seventh in line.
Mountbatten-Windsor — who was second in line to the throne at his birth — currently follows them in eighth position. His daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, are at ninth and twelfth places, respectively.
Australia and Latest Zealand have said they’d support any U.K. government plan to exclude Mountbatten-Windsor.
“These are grave allegations and Australians take them seriously,” Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote in a letter to Starmer last month.
“I agree with His Majesty that the law must now take its full course and there should be a full, fair and proper investigation.”
—with files from the Associated Press
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