Calls for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — formerly generally known as Prince Andrew — to remove himself from the royal line of succession are growing following his arrest in an investigation into his alleged involvement with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The second eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Mountbatten-Windsor is currently eighth within the line of succession to the throne. When he was born in 1960, he was second in line, preceded only by his brother, King Charles III.
He has since dropped down the order, behind Prince William, Prince Harry, and their respective children.
On Thursday, Shadow Scotland Secretary Andrew Bowie told British outlet GB News, “I feel it might be the decent thing… in fact, if he’s found guilty of this, I feel Parliament could be well inside its rights to act to remove him from the road of succession.”
“But, let’s remember, he’s not been found guilty of anything just yet — he has yet to be charged with anything. So we have now to let the police investigation run its course, and I feel we must always all act accordingly subsequent to that,” he continued.
Stephen Flynn, Scottish National Party (SNP) leader, also suggested Mountbatten-Windsor be faraway from the road of succession.
“The general public shall be rightly offended that a person who lied about being mates with Epstein could still be on the right track to be head of state,” he told The Sun newspaper.
The procession with the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, followed by, from left, King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, heads up the Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, on Sept. 12, 2022.
AP Photo/Scott Heppell
Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey said Mountbatten-Windsor’s position needs to be taken into consideration.
“A very powerful thing immediately is that the police be allowed to get on with their job, acting without fear or favour. But clearly that is a problem that parliament goes to have to think about when the time is true, naturally the monarchy will wish to be sure he can never develop into king,” he said in a press release.
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For Mountbatten-Windsor to be faraway from the road of succession, the U.K. Parliament would must pass laws that requires the agreement of the 15 Commonwealth realms who’ve King Charles III as their head of state — including Canada.
The last time a law on succession was modified was in 2012, when the Commonwealth abolished a rule that put male heirs ahead of female heirs no matter age.
This provision didn’t change the present line of succession to the throne, as the brand new rule applied to heirs born after Oct. 23, 2011.
FILE – Queen Camilla, King Charles III, Prince Louis of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince George of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte of Wales on the balcony at Buckingham Palace during Trooping The Color 2025 on June 14, 2025, in London, England.
Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage
Calls to remove Mountbatten‑Windsor come amid recent YouGov polling showing that 82 per cent of Britons consider he needs to be wiped from the royal line of succession altogether. Six per cent of respondents said he should remain.
While Mountbatten‑Windsor’s circumstances are unique, if he were to step aside, it might not be the primary time a British royal has given up their claim to the throne.
King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry the American divorcee Wallis Simpson, and was faraway from the road of succession by the Declaration of Abdication Act. It was, on the time, against the foundations of the Church of England — of which the king or queen is in charge — to permit divorced people to remarry; this rule was rescinded in 2002.
The Declaration of Abdication Act also excluded the descendants of Edward VIII, if any, from the road of succession to the throne. It’s unclear at this juncture whether Mountbatten‑Windsor’s potential removal would result in the exclusion of his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, in addition to their respective children, from the road of succession.
Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest was also the last straw for one Ontario mayor who’s now searching for to rename a street in his municipality.
St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe told Global News Thursday he’ll ask council on Monday to think about renaming Prince Andrew Court, a residential street near Prince Charles Court and Lake Street.
“St. Catharines councillors and I actually have been having discussions for a while about whether the court needs to be renamed,” Siscoe said in a press release.
“Given today’s news of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, I might say there is no such thing as a reason to proceed discussing.”
Police said Thursday that Mountbatten-Windsor was released under investigation, meaning he has neither been charged nor exonerated.
“That is probably the most spectacular fall from grace for a member of the royal family in modern times,” said Craig Prescott, a royal expert at Royal Holloway, University of London, who compared it in severity to the crisis sparked by Edward VIII’s abdication to marry Simpson.
“And it might not be over yet,” Prescott added.
Danny Shaw, an authority on law enforcement within the U.K., told the BBC that the previous prince was likely placed in “a cell in a custody suite” with just “a bed and a rest room” while he awaited his police interview.
“There’ll be no special treatment for him,” Shaw said.
— With files from Global News’ Aaron D’Andrea and The Associated Press
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