Prince Andrew’s decision to give up his titles and honours shows no sign of stopping the scrutiny of his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with royal sources expecting “more days of pain ahead” in the scandal.
While the prince will no longer use his titles, including the Duke of York, there are still calls for them to be formally removed.
Rachael Maskell, who is the MP for York and says many of her constituents no longer want the city to be associated with the royal, wants the government to change the law to allow this process.
The Metropolitan Police are looking into claims the prince asked a protection officer for personal information about Virginia Giuffre, who said she had been forced to have sex with the prince, a claim he has consistently denied.
Her memoir, published posthumously this week, adds to pressure on him.
A royal source said the focus of the Royal Family’s thoughts were on Epstein’s victims and the “whole network of girls and young women who were abused and treated appallingly”.
It should not be seen as a reputational or PR battle, they suggested, saying they were treating the ongoing claims with ” very great concern”.
The posthumous memoir by Ms Giuffre repeats claims she was trafficked for sex by Epstein to his powerful circle of friends, including Prince Andrew – an allegation that the prince has strongly denied.
On Friday the prince announced he would no longer use his titles and honours, which include the Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh. He also gave up his membership of the prestigious Order of the Garter.
He remains a prince, a title assigned from birth as the son of a monarch. But constitutional expert Craig Prescott says Andrew’s title of “prince” could also be theoretically removed by a legal document issued by monarchs, called Letters Patent. If he ceased to be a prince and as he is no longer Duke of York, he would become Andrew Windsor.
But at present, taking away his other titles would require legislation in Parliament.
Although Palace pressure might have been exerted, the handing back of his titles was a voluntary move. They were not taken away, but Andrew’s offer to stop using them can be enacted immediately and avoids using parliamentary time that would be necessary to remove those titles.
But Maskell does wants the government to amend current laws to make it possible for the King to directly take away his other titles and honours – and she says a poll in her York Central constituency showed overwhelming support for forcing Andrew to lose his titles.
“There are opportunities here to address the wrongs of history and ensure the voices of victims and survivors are heard and acted upon,” she told Radio 4’s Today programme.
Maskell, who lost the Labour whip in a rebellion over welfare reforms, said she “didn’t come into Parliament to discuss princes and princesses” but that such a change could be quickly passed allowing the monarch to remove titles and honours.
“It’s a simple single clause, it could be added to constitutional bill or a private member’s bill,” she said.
Flynn, the SNP’s Westminster leader, has also called for a better mechanism to remove titles.
He said the public was “angry and aghast and they deserve to know that some MPs share their outrage”.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, speaking on Breakfast, said that with regards the debate about taking away the prince’s titles: “Any further decisions are not something we as a government would be involved in.”
Prince Andrew also faces pressure from inquiries in the US into Epstein’s contacts with influential people, with more documents being trawled.
At the weekend, there were reports of emails showing Epstein’s connections with Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who has also lost her title and is no longer the Duchess of York.
The emails suggested that Prince Andrew in 2011 had sought personal information about his accuser Virginia Giuffre from his police protection officers and that he had already had her social security number.
This was in contrast to his claims in his Newsnight interview – when he said: “I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever.”
The Metropolitan Police has said it is actively looking into the claims about Andrew seeking information about her.
The documents emerging from the US, published by the Mail on Sunday, also showed Epstein claiming to have financially supported Sarah Ferguson for 15 years.
Sources close to Sarah Ferguson denied that this was correct.
The announcement that Prince Andrew would lose his remaining titles had been intended to draw a line under what a royal source had called the “constant parade of headlines” about him, which had taken attention away from other royals.
Royal sources highlighted that also included the work by Queen Camilla and the Duchess of Edinburgh to challenge violence against women.
The Palace will not want the scandal surrounding Andrew to overshadow a historic state visit to the Vatican this week, during which King Charles will meet Pope Leo.
