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Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has expressed support for removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession to the British throne.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Tokyo on Saturday, Carney said Andrew’s behaviour had already led to the loss of his royal titles and should also result in his exclusion from the succession order.
Carney noted that there was a formal process required to make such a change, but suggested that the circumstances surrounding Andrew’s actions made his continued place in the royal line inappropriate.
“There is a process in order to do it….but I certainly think his actions, which are deplorable and have caused him to be stripped of his royal titles, certainly… necessitate his removal from the line of succession.”
Prince Andrew, formally known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, is currently under investigation over alleged misconduct in public office linked to his past association with the late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He was arrested in February and later released while authorities investigated claims that he passed confidential information to Jeffrey Epstein during his time as the United Kingdom’s trade envoy between 2001 and 2011.
The former royal, who was stripped of his titles last year due to controversy over his relationship with Epstein, has denied any wrongdoing.
Andrew has also faced allegations from the late Virginia Giuffre, who had claimed she was trafficked to have sex with him on three occasions beginning in 2001 when she was a teenager. Andrew denied the accusations but reached a settlement in a US civil case filed by Giuffre in 2022 without admitting liability.
Carney’s remarks come after governments in Australia and New Zealand indicated support for removing Andrew from the royal succession.
Any change to the line of succession would have to be initiated by the United Kingdom authorities and approved by the 14 other Commonwealth realms that recognise King Charles III as head of state.
