The Government is understood to be considering legislation to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession after he was arrested over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
The former prince, who spent his 66th birthday yesterday in police custody, has lost all his titles but remains eighth in line to the British throne.
The move, which would prevent Andrew from ever becoming King, would come after the police investigation into claims he passed confidential information to Epstein has concluded.
Downing Street has been under increasing pressure to remove Andrew from the line of succession using an historic Act of Parliament.
Today, a new YouGov poll today revealed that around four out of five Britons believe action should be taken.
Just over one in 20 (six per cent) said he should remain in line to the throne.
There have also been calls for Andrew to voluntarily give up his place in the line of succession.
The Government is understood to be considering legislation to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession after he was arrested over his links to Jeffrey Epstein
A group of police officers in plain clothes arrive at Wood Farm on Thursday morning, where searches began
A YouGov poll revealed that four out of five Britons (82%) believe Andrew should be removed from the line of succession. Just one in 20 (6%) said he should remain
Andrew Bowie, a senior Tory MP, said: ‘I think it would be the decent thing.
‘Of course, if he’s found guilty of this, I think Parliament would be well within its rights to act to remove him from the line of succession.
‘But, let’s remember, he’s not been found guilty of anything just yet – he has yet to be charged with anything’.
Mr Bowie told GB News: ‘So we have to let the police investigation run its course, and I think we should all act accordingly subsequent to that.’
In October, Downing Street said it had no plans to introduce legislation that would change the line of succession.
Such a move would require an act of Parliament, approved by the Commons and the Lords.
It would also need to be supported by all other Commonwealth countries that have King Charles as their head of state, as it would affect their lines of succession.
Yesterday Andrew became the first senior royal in modern history to be arrested after he was held in custody for around 11 hours on his 66th birthday.
Searches were carried out at Andrew’s Norfolk home and he was later released under investigation by Thames Valley Police.
Andrew lost his royal titles and left his Royal Lodge residence in Windsor in October following fresh scrutiny of his links to Epstein. Royal Lodge continues to be searched.
Yet he remains eighth in line to the throne, just behind the children of Prince Harry, with an act of Parliament needed to formally remove Andrew.
Andrew has denied any wrongdoing over his Epstein links, but has not directly responded to the latest allegations.
A YouGov poll showed more than eight in 10 (82 per cent) of Britons think Andrew should be removed from the royal line of succession.
Only six per cent thought Andrew should still be eighth in line to be king.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the case of Andrew is something MPs will have to consider ‘when the time is right’ to make sure he cannot become king.
‘The most important thing right now is that the police be allowed to get on with their job, acting without fear or favour,’ he said.
‘But clearly this is an issue that Parliament is going to have to consider when the time is right, naturally the monarchy will want to make sure he can never become king.’
Constitutional experts said it would be a complex process to pass legislation to formally remove Andrew from the line of succession.
Robert Hazell, a professor of government and the constitution at University College London, said such a move would ‘require the involvement of the other 14 countries around the world which share the British monarch as their head of state: countries like Australia, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea’.
‘The last time this happened was for the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which made the law of royal succession gender neutral,’ he added on The Constitution Unit Blog.
‘It took two years of protracted negotiations for all the different countries to amend their own laws or constitutions.
‘With Mountbatten-Windsor being only eighth in line, it seems highly unlikely that the UK Government or the other governments will want to expend time removing him from the line of succession.’
Downing Street last year said it had no plans to introduce a law to change the line of succession, with it considered incredibly unlikely that Andrew would ever become king.
This is a breaking news story – more to follow
