Australia seeks Commonwealth support to axe former prince Andrew from British line of succession

AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER Anthony Albanese said his government is writing to Commonwealth realms about its backing for former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to be axed from the line of royal succession.

Mountbatten-Windsor is eighth in line to the British throne, behind his nephew Prince William and his three children, and Prince Harry and his two children.

Albanese said he had communicated with his British counterpart Keir Starmer about Mountbatten-Windsor, who is being investigated for alleged misconduct in public office following revelations about his dealings with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Britain would have to initiate any change to the line of royal succession – but it would need the agreement of the 14 other Commonwealth realms that have King Charles III as head of state, he said.

In the Americas, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are all Commonwealth realms.

In Oceania, the realms are Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

“Australia likes being first and we have made sure that everyone knows what our position is and we’ll be writing today to the other realm countries as well, informing them of our position,” Albanese told public broadcaster ABC.

The prime minister said he had written to the heads of Australia’s own states and territories, which would also need to agree to the change to the monarchy.

In a letter to Starmer on Monday, Albanese said his government would agree to any proposal to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of royal succession, describing the allegations against him as “grave”.

Australians are “disgusted” by revelations about late US sex offender Epstein’s relations with public figures and they wanted the government to be clear about its position, Albanese told the ABC.

Advertisement

“King Charles has said that the law must now take its full course. There must be a full, fair and proper investigation. And that needs to occur.”

The Prime Minister of New Zealand said today he would back the UK government if it decided to remove Andrew from the line of succession.

“We would definitely support whatever they come to,” Christopher Luxon told reporters.

“The bottom line is no one is above the law, and once that investigation is closed, should the UK government decide to remove him from the line of succession, that is something we would support.”

Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest last week was unprecedented in modern British history.

Starmer’s official spokesman said on Monday the British government was not ruling out any steps in relation to the disgraced prince but it would not be appropriate to comment further during the police investigation.

Albanese ruled out holding a vote on turning Australia into a republic, however, despite his support for having an Australian head of state.

“I’m a republican. His Majesty King Charles is very aware of that as well. But the government doesn’t have any plans to hold a referendum,” he said.

“We’re concentrating on cost-of-living measures and providing that immediate support for Australians is our priority at this point in time.”

Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years and gained de facto independence in 1901, but has never become a fully fledged republic.

In a 1999 referendum, Australians narrowly voted against removing then Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.