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Parliament is under mounting pressure to examine what the royal family knew about Prince Andrew\u2019s links to Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> and introduce a mechanism to strip him of his titles.<\/p>\n There were calls on Sunday night for Andrew to face a police investigation and for ancient rules barring parliament from freely scrutinising royals and formally removing their titles to be revisited.<\/p>\n The Metropolitan police confirmed they were looking into claims that Andrew asked his Met bodyguard to dig up information on Virginia Giuffre<\/a>, who had accused him of sexual assault, hours before the bombshell picture of them was published in 2011.<\/p>\n Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, said leaked emails suggesting Andrew passed his close protection officer Giuffre\u2019s date of birth and confidential US social security number were \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Metropolitan police<\/a> said: \u201cWe are aware of media reporting and are actively looking into the claims made.\u201d<\/p>\n The developing scandal forced Andrew to relinquish some of his royal titles<\/a> on Friday, including Duke of York, having already lost the use of his HRH title after ceasing to be a \u201cworking royal\u201d.<\/p>\n He retains the dukedom, which would take an act of parliament to remove, while his status as a prince could only be removed if a letters patent were issued by the king. <\/strong>Andrew has vigorously denied any wrongdoing, and the FBI formally ended its investigation into his links to Epstein in July.<\/p>\n But MPs and campaigners have called for further action including a Metropolitan police investigation into Andrew\u2019s links to Epstein and an act of parliament to formally strip the prince of his titles.<\/p>\n Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, said she was writing to ministers this week to back her bill giving the king or a parliamentary committee the power to formally remove Andrew\u2019s titles.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time this comes up, it clearly must be really traumatising for the victims and survivors, so it\u2019s really important that this matter is dealt with once and for all,\u201d Maskell said. \u201cThere are mechanisms which need to be put in place in order to remove a title.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/strong>Nadia Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East, said: \u201cIt should be a given that the state removes Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor\u2019s titles, rather than allowing him to hide behind voluntarily renouncing them and mealy-mouthed statements blaming his accusers.\u201d<\/p>\n Maskell proposed a removal of titles bill in 2022<\/a> which would enable the monarch or a parliamentary committee to remove titles in Andrew\u2019s case and in the future. Similar legislation was enacted in 1917 to remove the titles of peers and princes who fought against the British in the first world war.<\/p>\n One senior Labour backbencher and select committee chair described Andrew as a \u201cdisgrace\u201d and said he \u201cbrings shame on himself and those associated with him\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI would delight in voting for a parliamentary motion to strip him of all his titles,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n Asked by the BBC if he would support such legislation, Miliband said \u201cthe royal family will have to make its own decisions about what other steps can be taken\u201d but that they had suggested \u201cthey didn\u2019t want to take up parliamentary time with this\u201d.<\/p>\n Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, called for \u201ca proper thorough investigation into what happened\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very clear the sense of entitlement that Prince Andrew<\/a> has comes with being a prince and being part of the monarchy. The bigger story here is the monarchy itself. This is why I think the king has closed up shop. It poses some very difficult questions about how power operates in this country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n George Foulkes, a Labour peer, wrote to the clerks of the Commons and Lords on Sunday night asking them to review rules restricting parliamentarians from asking questions about the royal family<\/a>.<\/p>\n Foulkes said that early this year, the Lords table office rejected questions he tried to ask on Andrew and his 10-year role as a UK special representative for trade and investment, which the prince finally gave up in 2011 after a string of controversies.<\/p>\n