King Charles wants Andrew to be stripped of his last remaining military title, minister says

Defence secretary is ‘working to remove’ honorary rank of vice-admiral on the advice of monarch

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor will be stripped of his honorary rank of vice-admiral, the defence secretary has announced, which is the disgraced royal’s last remaining military title.

John Healey said his department was “working to remove” the rank, which Andrew was awarded on his 55th birthday in 2015.

He handed back his other honorary military titles in 2022 over his connections with the disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The honour hit the headlines four years ago following reports he wanted to wear an Admiral’s uniform to the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.

Mr Healey said that ministers had been “guided by the decisions and judgments the King has made”.

He added: “We’ve seen Andrew surrender the honorary positions he’s had throughout the military... we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has.”

But he would not comment on whether or not Andrew would be able to keep his medals, including the campaign medal he received for his service in the Falklands War.

Defence secretary John Healey confirmed the move on Sunday (PA)

The King stripped his brother of his peerages and the title of prince on Thursday amid the continuing fallout of the Epstein scandal.

Royal author Valentine Low said the latest move “will be a blow to Andrew… But even after doing this, Andrew is still going to be in the headlines and will continue to be for a long time”.

He has been associated with the Royal Navy since 1979, when he began officer training, subsequently serving as a helicopter pilot and was part of the task force deployed to the Falklands following Argentina’s invasion in 1982.

He ended his active naval career in 2001 with the rank of commander, but nearly a decade and a half later received an honorary promotion to vice-admiral.

Meanwhile, it has been claimed that Andrew routinely refused to sign off on official statements that supported survivors who had abuse connected to Epstein.

A friend of the King and Camilla told The Sunday Times that references to victims were removed from all previous statements drafted by courtiers and issued by Buckingham Palace since Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019.

Andrew is to be stripped of his honorary rank of vice-admiral. Pictured in naval uniform (PA Archive)

Any such communication had required Andrew’s sign-off, the paper said.

The former prince denies sexually assaulting the late Virginia Giuffre, who alleged this happened on three occasions, including when she was 17, after being trafficked by Epstein.

The friend told the paper the King had “lost patience” and that this week’s statement announcing the removal of Andrew’s prince and Duke of York titles was “no longer a statement by committee, it’s a statement from the King”.

It comes as the BBC revealed Andrew arranged a private tour of Buckingham Palace for businessmen from cryptocurrency mining firm, Pegasus Group Holdings, which agreed to pay his ex-wife up to £1.4m.

The company employed Sarah Ferguson as a "brand ambassador" for a crypto-mining scheme - which lost investors millions when it failed.

She was reportedly paid more than £200,000 for her work and a leaked contract suggests she was in line for an additional bonus worth £1.2m.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment.