Mark Carney has said that Prince Andrew should be removed from the line of succession to the British throne over what he described as the royal’s “deplorable” behaviour.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is currently under investigation for alleged misconduct in public office following revelations about his links to the late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He was arrested and later released in February on suspicion of passing confidential information to Epstein during his time serving as a UK trade envoy between 2001 and 2011.
“There is a process in order to do it….but I certainly think his actions which are deplorable and have caused him to be stripped of his royal titles, certainly… necessitate his removal from the line of succession,” Carney told reporters during a visit to Tokyo. The Canadian prime minister was in Japan for talks with his counterpart, Sanae Takaichi.
Prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles last year following controversy surrounding his alleged association with Epstein, has denied any wrongdoing. One of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, previously alleged that she had been trafficked and forced to have s3x with the British royal on multiple occasions starting in 2001. Andrew reached a settlement in a United States civil lawsuit filed by Giuffre in 2022 without admitting liability.
Carney’s remarks come after governments in Australia and New Zealand indicated support for removing Andrew from the royal line of succession. Any change to the succession would have to be initiated by United Kingdom and would require the agreement of the 14 other Commonwealth realms that recognise King Charles III as head of state.