Andrew invited to relinquish Freedom of City

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been invited by councillors to relinquish his inherited Freedom of the City of London.

The disgraced former prince received the honour in 2012 "by virtue of patrimony", due to his father Prince Philip having been a Freeman.

Despite calls for the title to be removed, the City of London Corporation (CLC) previously said the honour, which historically allowed its recipients to walk sheep over London Bridge with no tariff, cannot be taken back.

A CLC spokesperson said: "Elected members have today agreed to write to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, inviting him to formally relinquish the Freedom."

The CLC said it "will consider the response received, if any, at a future meeting and determine what action may be taken".

"Applications via patrimony are not considered or endorsed by our elected members, and there is no effective legal mechanism to remove this type of Freedom," the spokesperson added.

One of the City of London's ancient traditions, the freedom is believed to have begun in 1237 and enabled recipients to carry out their trade.

Now, the honour is awarded to people nominated by councillors. Sir Lenny Henry and Cate Blanchett are among those to have received the honour.

All of Andrew's siblings – including the King – also have freedom of the city of London.

The former prince was stripped of his royal titles, styles and honours by King Charles last year after further details of his relationship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein came to light.

In February Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office after correspondence in the Epstein Files suggested he may have passed on sensitive trade information, and was released under investigation after spending 11 hours in custody.

He has denied any wrongdoing.

The announcement by the corporation comes after Sarah Ferguson lost her freedom of the city of York title in March, after councillors voted unanimously to remove the honour over her links to Epstein.

She and Andrew were given the honour as a wedding present from York in 1987 during a visit to the city.

Councillors removed Andrew's freedom of the city of York in 2022 and the meeting at the time heard that he was the first person ever to have it taken away.

The request to voluntarily relinquish the Freedom of the City of London is a further public embarrassment for the former prince.

The removal of his official titles in October last year was designed to be the ultimate public sanction.

But since then there has been a drip feed of further humiliation.

His name, which had been widely used on buildings, military memorials and schools across the UK and Commonwealth, had in many cases been removed or renamed.

Perhaps the most personally painful for him will the removal of his name from four plaques on the Falklands Islands - from where he returned triumphantly as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot after the Falklands War in 1982.

There is unlikely to be any public response to this latest request to relinquish the Freedom of the City of London.

It all adds to the further isolation of a man stripped of his home, titles and status.

Mountbatten‑Windsor has stayed out of the public eye since moving from Royal Lodge in Windsor in February.

He is now living on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk and is privately funded by his elder brother, the King.

However, he remains eighth in the line of succession to the throne. Removing him would require an Act of Parliament in the UK and the agreement of all 15 Commonwealth realms where the King is head of state.

So far, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have all supported his removal.

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