King Charles request for Andrew faces unexpected delay: ‘Act in line'

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor may have gotten one last Christmas at his beloved Windsor home, Royal Lodge, but the delay is not synonymous with any leverage with regards to his position in the royal family.

King Charles had already ousted his disgraced brother and stripped him off of his royal titles, including his Dukedom and the ‘prince’ style title, but some honours require the consent of the parliament to officially remove it.

Four weeks after the announcement, the key figures from the military are now putting pressure on the UK government to rid Andrew of the one remaining title: Vice-admiral of the Royal Navy.

Senior defence chiefs have urged the government to “get on with it” as the delay in the process is “extraordinary”. They also pointed out that this was the government’s job and not the King’s to get the task done.

The King had issued a statement on November 6 revealing the removal of the royal honours and the initiation of the eviction process from the Royal Lodge. At the time, Defence Secretary John Healey supported the monarch’s decision claiming that they were ‘working on it’.

On Saturday, Ministry of Defence gave an update that the process is “ongoing” and did not disclose at what stage it was at. They also did not provide a reason for the month-long delay.

“Defence continues to act in line with His Majesty’s intent regarding the process to remove the style, titles and honours of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” a spokesperson for the ministry told The Times.

Meanwhile, Admiral Lord West, the former first sea lord and chief of the naval staff, pointed out that the ministry had swiftly removed the first sea lord from his position following a scandal. Hence, it “cannot be that difficult” to do that for Andrew.