The China Mail - UK lawmakers urge govt to strip Prince Andrew of his titles

Andrew's already tarnished reputation has been left in tatters by a steady stream of damaging allegations about his friendship with the late convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Buckingham Palace signalled it had finally had enough Friday when -- under pressure from his brother King Charles III -- Andrew announced he was renouncing his title of Duke of York.

Charles's son and heir to the throne, Prince William was consulted about the decision, and UK media reported at the weekend he planned to banish his uncle even further from royal life when he becomes king, including barring him from his coronation.

Andrew, 65, who has denied any wrongdoing, agreed in 2022 to pay Giuffre a multimillion-dollar settlement to end her civil sexual assault case against him.

- 'More days of pain' -

In Giuffre's book "Nobody's Girl", she reportedly says she was trafficked by Epstein and forced to have sex with Andrew three times, including when she was 17.

Andrew has denied ever meeting her. But the BBC said, quoting royal sources, that Buckingham Palace was preparing for "more days of pain ahead".

Andrew's scandals have proved a huge embarrassment to the royal family, and Giuffre's memoir is set to be published on the eve of a high-profile visit to the Vatican by Charles, who is due to end centuries of tradition and pray with Pope Leo XIV.

A number of MPs have made it clear they believe parliament should not just rely on Andrew's voluntary agreement not to use his title.

Instead, they say parliament should act to strip the title from the late Queen Elizabeth II's second son.

Rachael Maskell, MP for the historic northern English city of York from which Andrew's title comes, has proposed a bill that would allow the king or a parliamentary committee to take away the title completely.

The MP, who sits as an independent, said she would be writing to ministers this week to urge them to back the bill.

There are also calls for Andrew to lose the title of prince -- given to him by right as the son of the late queen.

George Foulkes, a Labour member of the upper House of Lords, on Sunday also wrote to both the Lords and the lower House of Commons to ask for a review of the rules on asking questions about the royal family in parliament.

According to Foulkes, questions he previously wanted to pose about Andrew's time as a UK special representative for trade and investment were rejected by parliamentary clerks.

Andrew gave up the role in 2011 after a string of controversies. In 2019 he stepped back from official royal duties, gave up his HRH title, and was only allowed to attend family occasions.

- No questions -

"I wanted to ask questions about whether he had a security briefing, what his role was and a number of other things," Foulkes said.

"I was told ... questions about the royal family were prohibited in both the commons and the lords," he told The Guardian daily.

Robert Hazell, professor of government and the constitution at University College London, told AFP there was no ban on questions about the royals.

"There's no formal ban ... it's more a matter of convention. You just don't ask questions about the royal family," the former Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker told AFP.

The "general view among MPs has been very polite" but the Prince Andrew scandal might be "an opportunity to overthrow that convention", he added.

Liz Saville-Roberts, of the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, said she would throw her weight behind any legislation to formally strip Prince Andrew of his dukedom.

"I will support any efforts to hold royals to the same standards and laws as everyone else -- parliament must have the power to remove privileges from abusers of position," she said.

C.Fong--ThChM