OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
3:14 PM – Saturday, February 21, 2026
The government in the United Kingdom is considering formally removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, from the royal line of succession, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) has learned.
Notions of Andrew’s removal come shortly after he was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office — an awkward way to spend his 66th birthday.
Andrew is accused of giving confidential documents to the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein in exchange for Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, trafficking young women and girls to him.
In 2019, his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, removed his military titles and forced him to give up his charity work and royal duties after he spoke of his relationship with Epstein in a televised interview. In October, King Charles stripped him of all remaining royal titles, including “his royal highness,” “Duke of York” and “Prince.” He was evicted from Royal Lodge, his home in Windsor, in early February, when he moved to a smaller property on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
Andrew is the first British royal in centuries to be arrested, with the last arrest being King Charles I in 1647. He is also the first British royal to have his titles stripped since Prince Charles Edward in 1919 after he served in the German army in World War I.
The last person to be removed from the line of succession by Downing Street was Edward VIII and any of his descendants in 1936, after he abdicated the throne to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
The king showed support and willingness to comply with the investigation into his younger brother, issuing a statement on the day of the arrest that “the law must take its course.”
Police and detectives were seen conducting extensive searches of his current and former residences, with Thames Valley Police, the entity responsible for his apprehension, expected to continue through the weekend.
Even if the former prince were to be convicted of a crime, he would remain eighth in line for the crown after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter, Princess Lilibet of Sussex. It would take him converting to Catholicism, formally renouncing his place, or an act of Parliament to take him out of the running.
Both houses of Parliament would be required to pull Andrew from the royal succession, as well as assent from King Charles III. The change would also require support from the 14 Commonwealth realms, including Australia, Canada, Jamaica and New Zealand.
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