An ‘embarrassment’, a ‘joke’: top brass wants Prince Andrew stripped of military roles amid Epstein scandal

Top brass want to sever ties with Prince Andrew and see him stripped of his honorary military roles.

Prince Andrew has been described as a "joke" and an "embarrassment" to the military, with some top brass wanting him to be "quietly faded out" of military roles. Pictures: AFP

The Duke of York has become an embarrassment to the armed forces and should be “quietly faded out” from his honorary military appointments, sources in the services have said.

Senior current and former personnel in the navy and army, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Times that Prince Andrew had become a source of derision among the ranks after his disastrous interview on BBC’s Newsnight this month.

Charities have continued to sever their links with the duke since he stepped down, with Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Action on Hearing Loss among the latest to announce that he will no longer serve as their patron. The armed forces, bound by their allegiance to the Queen, are unable to take the initiative, however, and Buckingham Palace has made clear that the duke is keeping his military commands.

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Andrew, a former naval helicopter pilot who flew in the Falklands conflict, is commodore-in-chief of the fleet air arm and admiral of the sea cadet corps within the Royal Navy. The duke, 59, holds honorary positions in the army, which include colonel of the Grenadier Guards and four other colonel-in-chief titles that link him to three regiments and the Small Arms School Corps.

Palace ‘reluctant’

The appointments involve awarding medals to personnel, attending ceremonial events and making official visits to military units. The duke is advised on military affairs by a naval officer who serves as his aide-de-camp and is on secondment from the MoD.

Prince Charles left, Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York stand with other members of the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to watch a fly-past of aircraft by the Royal Air Force, in London in June 2019. A royal source says Prince Andrew “is keeping his military commands”. Picture: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP

Despite calls for the duke to be replaced, a royal source said that “he is keeping his military commands” but confirmed he would not perform public roles assigned to the appointments.

Although it is understood that the Queen presides over the honorary military appointments, the palace appeared reluctant to accept responsibility. It said: “It’s not for the palace to speak on behalf of the MoD or on assigning military commands.”

A senior navy source suggested that it was untenable for the duke to retain the titles but not fulfil the duties, saying: “As a service we would not be rushing to invite him to anything. It’s safe to say there have been grumbles and it seems likely that the post would be passed on.”

Army sources said that the duke had become a joke within the service. The suggestion that he was unable to sweat after experiencing an overdose of adrenaline during the Falklands, a claim he made in the BBC interview, had gone down particularly badly. The sources said it “came as a surprise to many of us who have also been in combat. It’s just not viable. It’s embarrassing to be represented by someone like that.”

‘At odds with army values’

Prince Andrew’s reluctance to co-operate with the US authorities about allegations against him and his friendship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was at odds with the values and standards of the army. “A soldier would be expected to stand up for what he done,” they said.

When the Duke of Edinburgh withdrew from public life in 2017 he gave up his honorary military appointments.

“That is exactly what Prince Andrew should do,” said an army source.

Andrew could be replaced as commodore-in-chief of the fleet air arm by the Duke of Cambridge, a pilot with the RAF rather than the navy, or by a distinguished non-royal candidate.

One contemporary who served with Andrew said that his naval career had been “relatively mediocre”.

The royal was eventually told he was not going to get a command, “basically because he wasn’t up to it”, said the source.

Other navy figures were more sympathetic and suggested there had been “mass hysteria” around his links to Epstein. One said: “Him speaking on a program was stupid and he is not very clever at picking his friends.”

The Times