Prince Andrew loses freedom of York after
councillors’ vote
Royal also urged to give up title of Duke of York at
meeting following settlement of sexual assault case
Prince
Andrew
Prince
Andrew was granted the freedom of York in 1987.
Mark Brown,
North of England correspondent
Wed 27 Apr
2022 19.48 BST
Prince
Andrew has suffered another indignity after councillors in York unanimously
voted to remove his honorary freedom of the city.
An
extraordinary meeting of York city council on Wednesday also heard councillors
call on Andrew to relinquish his Duke of York title in the wake of his now
settled sexual assault civil case.
The freedom
of York was granted to Andrew in 1987, essentially a wedding gift after his
marriage the previous year to Sarah Ferguson.
At the time
there was a huge, joyful civic ceremony, which attracted crowds of more than
200,000 people. Thirty-five years later it has been ignominiously removed after
a meeting at York racecourse which lasted barely 25 minutes.
Darryl
Smalley, the Liberal Democrat councillor who proposed the motion, said he was
pleased to have won the support of councillors from all parties on the council.
“The
honorary freedom of York is the highest honour we, as a city, can bestow on
those who represent the very best of York,” Smalley said. “The honour is held
by many notable and accomplished people who carry it with pride and
responsibly.
“Having
been stripped of his military roles and royal patronages by the Queen, we
believe that it is right to remove all links that Prince Andrew still has with
our great city.
“The
removal of this honorary title sends the right message that we as a city stand
with victims of abuse. 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.”
Aisling
Musson, a Labour councillor, said the council owed it to the people of York,
“particularly those who have been affected by sexual violence, abuse or human
trafficking. Our first duty is not to our reputation but to their wellbeing and
protection.”
Apart from
two abstentions from the lord mayor and the lord mayor elect, all councillors
at the meeting voted for Andrew to be stripped of the title.
Martin
Rowley, a Conservative councillor, called for reassurance that in the future
“nobody receives a freedom of the city award as a result of right of birth, or
standing in the community”.
Andrew’s
freedom of York had been almost forgotten about until a former council official
tipped off the Guardian, which prompted York city council staff to search the
archives and in turn led to Wednesday’s extraordinary meeting.
In February
it was announced that the prince had settled his case with Virginia Giuffre who
had claimed she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Andrew when
she was 17, a claim the prince has denied.
The
out-of-court settlement meant that Andrew made no admission of guilt.
International lawyers said that the financial cost to Andrew was likely to be
more than $10m (£7m) even before he paid his own legal bill, which is expected
to run into millions.
The cost to
his reputation has been huge. In February it was announced the Queen was
stripping Andrew of his military affiliations and royal patronages. He also can
no longer use the HRH royal style in any official capacity.
He remains,
however, the Duke of York – much to the chagrin of many in the city. Rachael
Maskell, the MP for York Central, has said it was “untenable for the Duke of
York to cling on to his title another day longer”. A poll for the city’s
newspaper, the Press, showed that 88% of people agreed.
An act of
parliament would be needed for Andrew to be stripped of being the Duke of York,
a title given to him by his mother in 1986 when he married Ferguson.
Buckingham
Palace and a spokesperson for the Duke of York declined to comment.
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