Since Prince Andrew was forced to step down as a working royal and was stripped of his honorary titles in 2020, there have been calls to remove the disgraced Duke as the King’s backup.
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Indeed, there is a list of royals who will step in as counsellors of state if King Charles is abroad or incapacitated. Currently, the listed royals are Queen Camilla, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, and Princess Beatrice.
However, it has been revealed that a member of parliament was allegedly all for the Duke of York’s removal from the list.
Angela Rayner vehemently against Prince Andrew's power
A new book has claimed that Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, said she would not vote for Prince Andrew to stay on the list of royals who could step in for King Charles. The book, Get In, by journalists Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund, describes what the Labour Party is like under Keir Starmer and provided this detail that is being heavily talked about online.
Per The Independent, while the government was negotiating Prince Andrew’s fate, she called the Duke ‘that ‘n**ce’. That word is typically used as an insult in the UK and is a slang term for alleged or convicted sex offenders, most often ones involving children. She said:
I’m not going to vote to keep that n**ce on… I can’t go back to my constituency and say, yeah, I support that.
To remove Prince Andrew from the list, new legislation would be required, and Angela Rayner would have to deliver a statement and potentially a vote. However, for the time being, the list has not been altered, but in 2022, King Charles asked for Princess Anne and Prince Edward, who are strong supports for the King, to be included.
The Times shared a small excerpt of the upcoming book. An adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister recalls the outrage felt by Rayner:
She was very actively reaching out to the palace, the upper echelons of the civil service and said she thought this was a huge problem, and that the government needed to address this, and that she would offer cross-party support to make sure it happened.
New evidence shows Prince Andrew’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein was longer
The explosive claims in the book is another huge blow to Prince Andrew's already disgraced reputation, and comes after new evidence provided to the court showed that he was still in contact with Jeffrey Epstein longer than he claimed.
As reported by Sky News, new emails were disclosed in court for a filing by the Financial Conduct Authority. The documents showed that Prince Andrew emailed Epstein two months after he claimed he had cut all contact with the convicted paedophile.
Prince Andrew claimed he had cut contact with Epstein in December 2010, the two were seen walking together in Central Park, New York. Moreover, during his infamous Newsnight interview, the Duke of York explained he had visited Epstein in prison to tell him they were no longer friends.
However, the emails disclosed in court suggests that Prince Andrew and Epstein were in contact until at least February 27, 2011. Per the email, Prince Andrew said they would ‘play some more soon’.
Keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon!!!!
Read more:
Prince Andrew reported to the police over use of different name to set up private companies
Prince Andrew's close 'confidant' has been accused of being a Chinese spy
King Charles: New claims emerge that he has facilitated Prince Andrew’s stay at Royal Lodge
Sources used:
The Independent: ‘Angela Rayner tried to block Prince Andrew from royal duties, book claims’
The Independent: ‘King asks for change in law to allow Anne and Edward to deputise’
The Times: ‘How Angela Rayner went into battle over ‘that nonce’ Prince Andrew’
Sky News: ‘We'll play some more soon': Emails believed to be from Prince Andrew to Epstein after he claimed to cut contact revealed’
