Australia has become the first Commonwealth realm to formally declare its support for legislation removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the British royal line of succession, four days after the former Duke of York was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote to his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, confirming that his government would back any proposal to remove Andrew from the line of succession. “I agree that the law must now take its full course and there must be a full, fair and proper investigation,” Albanese wrote in the letter, which was shared by Starmer’s office yesterday.
Andrew was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, spending 11 hours in custody on his 66th birthday after allegations that he shared sensitive information with Epstein while serving as the United Kingdom’s trade envoy between 2001 and 2011. He was released under investigation and continues to deny all wrongdoing.
Despite being stripped of his royal title last year, Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne. An Act of Parliament would be required to remove him permanently from the succession, and any such change would also require the agreement of all 14 Commonwealth nations that recognise King Charles III as head of state, including Canada and Jamaica.
&uuid=(email))