Following a unanimous vote by York City Council, Prince Andrew has been stripped of his honorary ‘freedom of York’ title.
Councillors voted for the removal in an Extraordinary Council Meeting on Wednesday, April 27.
The move came after Prince Andrew reached an out of court settlement – said to be £12m – with his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, in a civil sex claim filed in the US.
According to some of the councillors, the removal of his Honorary Freedom of the City of York is just a starting point for the changes that should be made.
Councillor Gwen Swinburn slammed Prince Andrew as a “disgrace” who brought “shame and repetitional damage everywhere he goes, including to our city”.
“He needs to be declared persona non grata in York,” she said.
Councillors also called for him to relinquish his Duke of York title.
Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central, said the prince was the “first to ever have their freedom removed” by the city and backed calls for his Duke of York title to be relinquished.
The rank of duke, like other peerages, can only be removed by an act of parliament, which last happened in 1917.
