Why removing Andrew from the line of succession is not as easy as it sounds

With Australia’s prime minister now offering his support to ensure disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor never becomes King, the prospect of a change in the line of succession may be closer to reality.

Andrew has been expelled from the Royal Lodge and is no longer allowed to use his titles including: Prince, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh and His Royal Highness.

Displacing Andrew from any chance of succeeding to the throne by removing him from the line of succession would take the effort to sideline the former prince to another level.

Considering the former prince’s legal troubles stemming from his relationship with the late American spy Jeffrey Epstein, it may come as a surprise to some that he remains eighth in line to the throne.

What many may not realize is that changing the royal line of succession is not something that the current king can do out of hand; it requires the British Parliament, and the governments of the remaining 15 Commonwealth countries to participate in concert.

When news came out that the UK was talking to Buckingham Palace about preventing Andrew from becoming king, the first sign of support from the Commonwealth – the country whose official head is the British monarch – came from below.

“In light of recent events involving Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, I am writing to confirm that my government will agree to any proposal to remove him from the line of succession,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. in the book sent to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday.

“These are serious allegations and Australians take them very seriously,” he said.

CBC News has asked the Prime Minister’s Office for its position on Canada changing the line of succession but has not yet received a response.

Andrew’s arrest last week was the latest in a series of problems that have beset the former prince, as revelations linked to his relationship with Epstein continue to emerge.

Such allegations saw him in 2022 settle a civil case with Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that Epstein had trafficked Andrew, who sexually assaulted her three times when she was 17.

Andrew denies the charges, which have not yet been proven in court.

Police said Andrew’s arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office last week was part of an investigation into allegations he shared trade secrets with Epstein when the former prince was UK trade ambassador between 2001 and 2011.

King Charles supported the inquiry, saying “the law must take its place,” but news of the palace and the UK government talking about removing Andrew from the line of succession suggests the Crown wants to cut all ties with the former ruler.

A Commonwealth wide effort

The last time the line of succession changed was in 2013 when the UK Succession to the Crown Act came into effect, making major changes to the way monarchs sit on the throne.

Although that law ended the long-standing practice of prohibiting anyone marrying a Roman Catholic from becoming king, it retained the law that prevented anyone who was Roman Catholic from becoming King or Queen.

But the law is best known for removing the male bias in the line of succession, placing male and female heirs in the same place when the throne is passed down from one generation to the next.

For the revised changes to take effect, each Commonwealth territory had to agree to them because they all have the same head of state and are legally equal.

At the time of those changes, they were there 16 locations, including the UK. Six jurisdictions have passed corresponding legislation to harmonize their laws respectively with the UK: Australia, Barbados, Canada, New Zealand, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Nine other territories decided they did not need legislation because their domestic laws already recognize the incoming UK monarch as the next head of state.

Those nine territories include: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, St. Lucia, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

Since then, Barbados has become a republic, leaving 15 territories, including the UK, remaining in the Commonwealth.

There are a total of 56 countries in the Commonwealth, including Barbados, but they do not have that position because the King of England is not the head of their state.

A great symbolic effort

Robert Finch, chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada, doubts whether making the change is worth the trouble.

“Andrew is at the bottom of the pecking order. The others before him are young and healthy. So let’s face the facts: there is almost no chance of him becoming king again,” he said.

“That makes me think that this change – which may have support – will not be worth the effort.”

Carolyn Harris, an expert on the history of the monarchy and the succession, said that if Andrew succeeded to the throne there would be a constitutional crisis gripping the Commonwealth, but this is not the case.

If the effort to remove Andrew from the line of succession moves forward, Harris says “there may be an argument that taking up parliamentary time in many parts of the Commonwealth where Andrew is less likely to be in that role.”