The government is considering introducing legislation to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of royal succession.
Defence Minister Luke Pollard told the BBC the move - which would prevent Andrew from ever becoming King - was the “right thing to do,” regardless of the outcome of the police investigation.
Currently Andrew, the King’s brother, remains eighth in line to the throne despite being stripped of his titles, including “prince”, last October amid pressure over his ties to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
On Thursday evening, Andrew was released under investigation 11 hours after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
The real question is how that didn’t happen automatically when he was stripped of his title.
Yeah that seems pretty dumb, but these processes are hardly robust. More like Byzantine.
Because the laws that give titles are different than the laws that include someone from the line of succession.
If I remember correctly, there are around 5,000 people in the line of succession, and most of them don’t even know they’re on it.
There’s a fantastic movie called Kind Hearts and Coronets from the 1940s. A guy discovers he’s tenth in line to be a duke, but his mother was disowned by her family for marrying a commoner.
Naturally, he decides to kill his relatives to avenge mom and grab the dukedom. Oh, and all nine of his relatives, male and female, are played by Alec Guinness.
See also: A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder