Humiliation for Andrew and Harry as Palace seeks to remove key royal role
STRIPPED of their royal patronages and military titles by the Queen, and both asked not to use the handle His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew and his nephew Prince Harry face a new humiliation.
I can reveal that Buckingham Palace officials are considering how to remove a potentially significant role the pair still possess: that of Counsellors of state.
Palace sources confirmed last night that they are still two of the four Counsellors of state, who would be called upon to take the place of the Queen if she were unable to carry out her duties because of illness or absence abroad.
They would be authorised to carry out most of the official duties of the monarch, including signing important documents, attending Privy Council meetings and receiving the credentials of new ambassadors to the United Kingdom. The other two Counsellors of state are Prince Charles and Prince William.
‘It is a genuine problem that the Palace is looking to address,’ a royal source tells me. ‘Can you imagine the Duke of York having to sign official documents, for example, because the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge were both abroad, and the Queen became ill? It’s not an exaggeration to say it could put the monarchy in jeopardy.’ A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment, but sources suggested that Andrew and Harry could not be stripped of their roles without the law being changed.
By law, the counsellors of state are the monarch’s spouse and the next four adults in the line of succession. An Act of Parliament would be needed to remove Andrew and Harry, perhaps replacing them with Princess Anne and the Duchess of Cornwall.
‘There could be events later this year which make such a change necessary,’ says the source, who declines to elaborate. That’s thought to be a reference to the outcome of Andrew’s sordid court case in new York and the publication of Harry’s forthcoming memoirs. Deep waters.