Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has written to Sir Keir Starmer to say his government would agree to “any proposal” to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession.
He said: “In light of recent events concerning Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, I am writing to confirm that my government would agree to any proposal to remove him from the line of royal succession.
“I agree with His Majesty that the law must now take its full course and there must be a full, fair and proper investigation.
“These are grave allegations and Australians take them seriously.”
The former prince was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office after being accused of sharing sensitive information with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein while serving as the UK’s trade envoy.
Andrew spent 11 hours in custody on his 66th birthday while officers searched his home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. He was released under investigation.
Although Andrew was stripped of his remaining royal titles by his brother, King Charles III, in December, he currently remains eighth in line to the throne.
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Starmer’s government will consider introducing legislation to remove this right once police have concluded their investigation into Andrew.
Any changes to the line of succession would require the agreement of other countries that share the UK monarch, including Australia, Canada and Jamaica.
Australia’s PM is the first leader of a Commonwealth country to publicly back removing Andrew from being in line to the throne.
When asked about a letter the letter from Albanese, Starmer’s official spokesman said: “The government has received the letter.“We are considering whether further steps are required in relation to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and we are not ruling anything out.“But given the ongoing police investigation, it would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further at this stage.”
Downing Street said it was up to Parliament whether a special committee should investigate Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Lord Peter Mandelson’s links to Jeffrey Epstein.Asked about calls for a committee to investigate the matter, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “This is a matter for Parliament, not Government.“But we should remain mindful of the ongoing investigation in this case, and it’s right that the police investigation takes its course.”
This is the Talking Royals – our weekly podcast about the royal family, with ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship and Producer Lizzie Robinson.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.news.yahoo.com ’
