Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor asked to give up freedom of City of London
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is to be asked to relinquish his freedom of the City of London because he cannot be stripped of the honour.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is to be asked to relinquish his freedom of the City of London.
The former prince - who was stripped of his titles and royal privileges by King Charles last October over his links to late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein - received the honour in 2012 by "virtue of patrimony" because his late father, Prince Philip, had been a freeman but now the City of London Corporation are planning to write to him to ask him to voluntarily give it up.
Following a review in March, weeks after Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the corporation concluded they couldn't take away the honour due to the way it was bestowed.
A spokesman for the City of London Corporation explained: “Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received the freedom of the City of London in 2012 by virtue of patrimony, which is inherited as the child of a freeman and constitutes a legal right.
“Applications via patrimony are not considered or endorsed by our elected members, and there is no effective legal mechanism to remove this type of freedom.
“Elected members have today agreed to write to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, inviting him to formally relinquish the freedom. They will consider the response received, if any, at a future meeting, and determine what action may be taken.”
The honour - which is believed to have begun in 1237 and enabled recipients to carry out their trade - is typically awarded to people nominated by corporation councillors and all of Andrew's siblings have the freedom of the City of London, as do the likes of Sir Lenny Henry and Cate Blanchett.
The announcement comes a few weeks after Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, was stripped of the Freedom of the City of York following a unanimous vote from councillors, who cited concerns about the author's links to Epstein, who died in 2019 aged 66.
The honorary title had been awarded to Sarah in 1987 following her marriage to Andrew, but councillors said the association raised questions about whether she met the standards expected of recipients.
Their motion, passed under Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972, formally withdrew the status.
The move follows earlier action in 2022 when Andrew - the former Duke of York - was also stripped of the honour.
Following the release of the Epstein files, records from Companies House showed six companies linked to Sarah began winding down operations, while her charity, Sarah’s Trust, announced it would close “for the foreseeable future”.
