City of London asks Andrew to relinquish Freedom honour
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been invited by councillors to formally relinquish his Freedom of the City of London, an honour he received in 2012 because his father Prince Philip had previously been made a Freeman.
BBC News reported that elected members of the City of London Corporation agreed to write to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor inviting him to give up the honour, and said they would consider any response at a future meeting before deciding what action may be taken.
The City of London Corporation said the Freedom was granted “by virtue of patrimony” and that there is no effective legal mechanism to remove that type of honour, despite previous calls for it to be withdrawn. A spokesperson said applications via patrimony are not considered or endorsed by elected members.
The development comes amid continued public scrutiny of the former prince and follows wider discussion about royal roles and accountability, including Britpop News reporting on Prince Harry’s comments in Melbourne about not “pointing the finger” at King Charles.
The BBC report noted that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of royal titles, styles and honours by King Charles last year after further details of his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein emerged. It also said Andrew was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office in connection with correspondence in the Epstein Files, then released under investigation, and that he has denied wrongdoing.
