Buckingham Palace will not oppose plans to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the royal line of succession, the Guardian understands, as police confirmed a search of his former Windsor home would continue over the weekend. Royal sources indicated on Saturday that King Charles would not stand in the way of parliament if it wanted to ensure the former prince could never ascend to the throne.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who was arrested this week on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, remains eighth in line to succeed the king, despite being stripped of all of his royal titles and relieved of any official duties. The arrest came after the US Department of Justice released files suggesting Mountbatten-Windsor passed confidential government information to the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and other contacts while acting as a UK trade envoy.
Mountbatten-Windsor ceased to be a working royal in 2019 after a catastrophic Newsnight interview in which he refused to apologise for his continued friendship with Epstein. In 2022, he paid a reported £12m settlement to the late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked to Mountbatten-Windsor by the disgraced financier. Mountbatten-Windsor has denied Giuffre’s allegations and the payment was made without any admission of liability.
Removing him from the line of succession would require fresh legislation, which would need the support of MPs and peers, as well as royal assent from the king. It would also have to be backed by the 14 Commonwealth countries where the king is head of state. Ministers have suggested that the government has already made overtures to the palace about plans for a law change once the police investigation has concluded.
Luke Pollard, a defence minister, told BBC Radio 4 that the government had “absolutely” been working with the palace on its plans to stop Mountbatten-Windsor from “potentially being a heartbeat away from the throne”. He said this was something he hoped would “enjoy cross-party support” but added that “it’s right that this is something that only happens when the police investigation concludes”.
Mountbatten-Windsor is the first royal to be arrested in more than 350 years, since Charles I was taken prisoner after his defeat by parliamentary forces in 1647 in the English civil war. The former Duke of York was questioned by detectives from Thames Valley police on Thursday and spent 11 hours in police custody. He was released under investigation and there are understood to be no restrictions on his movements while officers continue their inquiries.
