Union flag will not be flown to mark Duke of York’s birthday
THE Government will not fly the Union flag to mark the Duke of York’s birthday, it emerged last night.
It has advised councils that they are not required to raise the flag to mark the Duke’s birthday on Feb 19 as he is no longer a working royal.
The Duke is one of 10 members of the Royal family whose birthdays have traditionally been marked by the flying of the flag on public buildings.
But when a standard notice was sent out to town halls highlighting the birthday, critics warned it was “inappropropriate” after the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Joe Anderson, the Liverpool mayor, vowed that the city council would not be marking the birthday. He said: “No, we won’t be doing that. I don’t think that would be appropriate.”
Downing Street said it was working with the Royal household to review the policy in the light of the Duke’s decision to step back from official duties.
Earlier, a spokesman for Westminster Abbey, which comes under the jurisdiction of the monarch and not a diocese, insisted it would still ring its bells to mark the occasion. But Lisa Bloom, who represents five of Epstein’s alleged victims, said: “The best birthday gift he could make to his country would be to live up to his promise and co-operate with the Epstein investigation.” The Duke has insisted he has received no formal request to speak to US prosecutors.
Republic, a group campaigning to replace the monarchy with an elected head of state, said that councils had better things to worry about than “daft royal protocols”.
The Local Government Association said: “Councils have their own flag-raising guidelines or protocols and will decide locally how to respond to any requests to fly particular flags on specific occasions.”
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the Duke “deferred”
‘No, we won’t be doing that. I don’t think that would be appropriate’
a Royal Navy promotion to the rank of admiral.
The Duke had expected to be promoted by the Queen on his birthday.
Such a move would have followed a long-standing convention covering military promotions for royals.
In 2015, when the Duke turned 55 he was promoted to vice-admiral in recognition of the “vast amount of work” he had undertaken for the service over the years, while in 2010, he was made a rear-admiral.