Anthony Albanese backs Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in Keir Starmer letter
Anthony Albanese supported the removal of former Prince Andrew from the inheritance in a letter to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The British royal family was thrown into chaos last week after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, eighth in line to the throne, was arrested as part of a police investigation into alleged misconduct in public office.
He was released under investigation.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor had already withdrawn from public life due to his close personal ties to American financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
He appears in millions of redacted files released by US authorities as part of their investigation into Epstein, adding new energy to calls to remove the disgraced former Prince from the line of succession.
Mr Starmer is reportedly considering legal changes that would strip Mr Mountbatten-Windsor of promotion.
On Monday, it emerged that Mr Albanese had written a letter to Mr Starmer offering his support.
“Dear Prime Minister Starmer, in light of recent events regarding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, I am writing to confirm that my government will accept any proposals to remove him from the royal line of succession,” the letter reads.
“I agree with Her Majesty that the law must now be fully operational and that there must be a full, fair and appropriate investigation.
“These are serious allegations and Australians take them seriously.”
NED-8647 Royal Line of Succession
Mr Albanese is understood to have also appealed for support to the states and territories.
The process of removing Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is unprecedented and legally concerning; potentially involving all parliaments in all Commonwealth dominions and overturning centuries-old legal precedent.
In Australia it became clear that any changes to legislation in England could not be applied here, meaning separate changes would have to be put forward.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, Queen Elizabeth II. He is Elizabeth’s second son.
He has been plagued with controversy in recent years, including an out-of-court settlement in 2022 with Australian Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was assaulted by the then-Prince.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor never admitted guilt and was not alleged to have attacked Ms Giuffre, who died by suicide last year.
A trainwreck interview he gave to BBC Newsnight in 2019 led to him largely stepping back from public life.
Epstein committed suicide in a New York prison the same year.
Last year, the US Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was signed into law by US President Donald Trump.
The bill forced the Department of Justice to release all records related to Epstein.
A large number of documents, initially insufficient, have become available in recent weeks; many of these contain unredacted names and details of the victims.
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