ANDREW Mountbatten-Windsor is set to be the first senior royal in history to be forcibly ejected from the line of succession.
Downing Street is drawing up plans to prevent the disgraced former prince’s path to the throne amid a nationwide backlash following his arrest.
Andrew faces being the first senior royal to be ejected from the line of succession
Sir Keir Starmer will look to pass a law to oust the disgraced former prince
The Sun understands Sir will look to pass an Act of to boot him out once the police has concluded.
While previously reluctant to pass a law that gets him out, the PM has come under pressure from MPs across parties to axe him entirely from the constitution.
Andrew is currently eighth in line to become King despite being stripped of his titles and banished from public life.
While such a scenario is incredibly unlikely, the shamed royal’s links with has sparked a groundswell of calls for him to lose all patronage.
A YouGov poll found 82 per cent of Brits support removing Andrew from the line of , compared to just six per cent who disagree.
Royal sources signalled would not stand in the way of removing Andrew, saying: “As with all matters of legislation the King acts on the advice of Government.”
Tory Shadow Minister Andrew Bowie piled on the pressure, saying “it would be the decent thing”.
He added: “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.”
SNP leader also backed the move, telling The Sun: “The public will be rightly angry that a man who lied about being mates with Epstein could still be on course to be head of state.”
Lib Dem chief Sir added: “The most important thing right now is that the police be allowed to get on with their job, acting without fear or favour.
“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.”
Labour MP Rachel Maskell said: “From the evidence already held in the public domain, it is clear that his position as a Counsellor of State and with succession rights are removed, as well as all titles.
“I trust that legislation can be passed to achieve this. I am glad that the King seeks to be as helpful as he can, and providing support to Parliament to act would assist in this.”
A Starmer loyalist MP added: “He completely should be removed.”
Removing a royal from the line of succession is only possible via a specific Act of Parliament.
Such legislation was last passed in 1936 to remove Edward VIII and his descendants following his voluntary abdication.
The Declaration of Abdication Act was a very short piece of legislation that also prohibited any potential future children from being in line.
However it is unlikely that Eugenie and Beatrice would be turfed out should their father be removed.
Changing the line of succession would separately require the consent of every other country where Charles is head of state.
This would mean getting the green-light from 14 other nations including , Jamaica and .
Constitutional expert Robert Hazell said: “The last time this happened was for the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which made the law of royal succession gender neutral. “It took two years of protracted negotiations for all the different countries to amend their own laws or constitutions.”
Sir Keir previously ruled out passing a law to remove Andrew on the grounds it would waste Commons time on something that was purely symbolic.
No10 previously said: “There are no plans… The Government is committed to using parliamentary time to improve the lives of working people.”
But that was also the position they held on removing the peerage from Lord Mandelson, until they eventually caved to a growing backlash and said they would consider action.
Andrew is currently behind William, George, Charlotte, Louis, Harry, Archie and Lillibet in the line of succession.
said: “It’s preposterous that shamed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor remains 8th in line to the throne, and makes an absolute mockery of the Monarchy.”
How can a royal be removed from the line of succession
Removing a royal from the line of succession is only possible via a specific Act of Parliament.
Such legislation was last passed in 1936 to remove Edward VIII and his descendants following his voluntary abdication.
The Declaration of Abdication Act was a very short piece of legislation that also prohibited any potential future children from being in line.
However it is unlikely that Eugenie and Beatrice would be turfed out should their father be removed.
Changing the line of succession would separately require the consent of every other country where Charles is head of state.
This would mean getting the green-light from 14 other nations including Australia, Jamaica and Canada.
It is not possible for Andrew to voluntarily relinquish his place in the line of succession, as has been suggested.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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