Calls mount for UK's ex-Prince Andrew to be removed from royal line of succession

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The arrest of former Prince Andrew following new revelations over convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has sparked mounting calls for him to be removed from the line of succession for the throne.

UK politicians again raised an outcry over Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as he is now officially known, after his Thursday arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office following recent Epstein revelations.

Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said his status in the royal line of succession should be considered.

"Clearly this is an issue that parliament is going to have to consider when the time is right, naturally the monarchy will want to make sure he can never become king," he said in a statement.

Stephen Flynn, the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Westminster leader, told British tabloid The Sun that the public would be rightly angry that a man who lied about being friends with Epstein could still be on course to be head of state.

Andrew Bowie, the Conservative shadow Scotland secretary, said removing him from the line of succession would be the right thing: "If he’s found guilty of this, I think parliament would be well within its rights to act to remove him from the line of succession."

A YouGov poll published Friday suggested that 82% of British citizens now believe Mountbatten‑Windsor should be removed from the royal line of succession entirely versus just 6% who said he should remain.

- Former prince denies any wrongdoing

On Thursday, Windsor, 66, was arrested by the Thames Valley Police. He was released 11 hours later.

"Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office," said Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright.

The former prince has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein, a sex offender who died in jail in 2019.

On Feb. 9, after a large release of US files on Epstein the previous month, police said they were assessing reports of alleged misconduct "in line with our established procedures."

The younger brother of King Charles served as the UK’s trade envoy from 2001 to 2011. He withdrew from royal duties in 2019 after his connection to Epstein became public.

According to the January file release, on Oct. 7, 2010, Andrew sent Epstein details of his official upcoming trips as trade envoy to Singapore, Vietnam, Shenzhen in China, and Hong Kong.

On Nov. 30, he appeared to have forwarded official reports of those trips – sent by his then-special assistant – to Epstein just after receiving them.