A Prince no more, but will Andrew lose this remaining honour in yet another unprecedented move?

With the release of a single statement from King Charles, the former Duke of York has gone from Prince Andrew to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. It’s no exaggeration to say that this is an unprecedented move and even just a few weeks ago it looked highly unlikely. On 17th October Andrew announced he would no longer use his York title.

Now he is plain ‘Mr’ and will be moving from his Royal Lodge home to the Sandringham Estate following weeks of mounting pressure and a slew of tawdry accusations levelled against him and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. However, what struck me instantly after His Majesty released his statement is that there’s still further steps that could be taken.

For some, this still won’t be enough and it struck me at once that there is one royal honour Andrew continues to hold. He is still 8th in the royal line of succession and, at the time of writing, is still listed as Duke of York on the Royal Family’s official website.

It’s not just that he’s still in line to the throne either, but his place in the succession automatically makes him one of King Charles’s Counsellors of State. It is the first four royals in the succession over the age of 21, plus the monarch’s spouse, who hold this position.

Counsellors have the authority to carry out the majority of the Sovereign's official duties if they are temporarily unable to do so, for example if they’re unwell or abroad. In practice there’s no way that Andrew would be called upon in either circumstance given the accusations that surround him and because he’s not a working royal.

The principle of him holding this position and still technically being in line to become King if tragedy should strike the Royal Family is a controversial one. After all that’s happened in recent weeks and amid reports that Prince William was "not satisfied" with the initial way of handling the so-called "Andrew problem", it’s always possible they could take things a step further.

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Removing Andrew from the succession and/or as Counsellor of State is not within King Charles’s power and is complex. He would have to initiate another formal process and an Act of Parliament would have to be passed. Because of the Statute of Westminster 1931 any legislation would also require the approval of every other Commonwealth Realm where King Charles is Head of State.

I can’t imagine they would seek to preserve Andrew’s place so it all comes down to whether the public calls for further action and whether King Charles and the rest of the Royal Family consider it worth pursuing, given he is realistically never going to ascend to the throne.

On 31st October Downing Street confirmed it has no plans to introduce a law to change the line of succession. This might be the case for now, but who knows if this will ever change in light of His Majesty’s recent decision.

He declared that he’s begun the "formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew" who will "now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor".

The statement added, "His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him."

It concluded by affirming that both King Charles and Queen Camilla "wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse".