Prince Andrew is to lose his Freedom of the City of York after York City Council voted unanimously to strip him of the honour.
Councillors met on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, to discuss whether to remove it from the status from the Queen’s second son.
Prince Andrew was given the ambassadorial title during a poignant ceremony held in 1987 – a few months after his marriage to Sarah Ferguson and Her Majesty’s move to bestow upon him the title of Duke of York.
The Freedom of the City is a status normally given to outstanding members of the community, visiting celebrities or dignitaries.
While bearing the title of Freeman is usually considered a major honour, it doesn’t grant any special privileges.
This Council meeting was initially due to take place in March but was postponed after a number of councillors tested positive for Covid-19.
The motion was supported by Labour, Conservatives and the Green group representatives present at the meeting.
All council members at the meeting voted in favour of the motion, apart from two who abstained from the vote – the Lord Mayor and Lord Mayor-elect.
The vote was unanimously carried as a result of this.
Council members also called for either the Queen or the Government to strip Andrew of the title Duke of York.
Peerages, including the rank of Duke, can only be removed by an Act of Parliament, which last happened in 1917.
Liberal Democrat councillor Darryl Smalley, City of York Council’s executive member for culture, leisure and communities and proposer of the motion said: “The removal of this honorary title sends the right message that we as a city stand with victims of abuse.”
He went on to add: “The next logical step is now for Prince Andrew to do the right thing and relinquish his Duke of York title.
“If he fails to do so, the Government and Buckingham Palace must step in to remove his title to finally end Prince Andrew’s connection to York.”
Labour councillor Aisling Musson said she wanted to remove “this stain of an association with this city”.
Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central, said the Prince was the “first to ever have their freedom removed” by the city.
Despite the move, Councillor David Taylor showed he still held the York family in high esteem by notably highlighting his approval for Andrew’s daughter Beatrice.
He expressed his hopes that the monarch would appoint Princess Beatrice as Duchess of York in the future.
He described Andrew’s daughter as being “personable and intelligent” and added that Beatrice had “done her homework” when visiting the city previously.
York Liberal Democrats, the largest group on City of York Council, said Andrew had been contacted by the local authority ahead of the meeting to inform him of the motion.
The meeting comes two months after the Duke of York reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who had accused him of sexual assault allegedly carried out when she was 17.
Source: Express
