Prince Andrew is 'banished from royal life forever' says Myers

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The Duke of York and the Duke of Sussex are two of the four Counsellors of State – who are appointed to act in the Queen’s place – along with Prince Charles and Prince William. Now Buckingham Palace is reportedly considering removing the roles from Andrew and Harry as they are both no longer senior working members of the Firm.

Counsellors of State are called on when the Queen cannot carry out her duties on a temporary basis due to illness or absence abroad.

They are appointed from the next four people in the line of succession who are adults. Harry is sixth and Andrew ninth in line.

Harry and Andrew both stepped back from royal duties for very different reasons.

The Duke of Sussex is living in California after he and Meghan Markle quit as working royals in March 2020, deciding that he wanted his independant and financial freedom away from the Firm.

Meanwhile, the Duke of York is facing a civil sexual assault case in the US.

A royal source told the Daily Mail: “It is a genuine problem that the Palace is looking to address.

“Can you imagine the Duke of York having to sign official documents, for example, because the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge were both abroad, and the Queen became ill?

“It’s not an exaggeration to say it could put the monarchy in jeopardy.”

A palace spokesperson declined to comment, but sources suggested Andrew and Harry could not be removed from the roles without the law being changed.

By law, Counsellors of State include the sovereign’s spouse and the next four people in the line of succession who are over the age of 21.

Counsellors of State are authorised to carry out most of the official duties of the monarch.

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Dr Craig Prescott, a constitutional expert at Bangor University, told the Mirror: “I think this should be looked at if it isn’t being done already by the Palace, because they certainly would want to avoid a situation where the monarchy becomes a problem for the Government.

“The monarchy should be thinking six-12 months ahead, arguably even two to five years ahead, where possible.

“You just need the right, or wrong set of circumstances, to occur at once for there to be an issue.

“As we saw during Covid, with Prince Charles and Prince William were reportedly infected at around the same time which could have left them incapacitated.

“With the Queen having taken a period to recuperate from illness herself in recent months the burden is actually quite considerable.”

It comes after Andrew was last week stripped of his honorary military titles and royal patronages as he faces a civil sexual assault case.

Calls have also been made for him to lose his York dukedom, which was given to him by the Queen on his wedding day in 1986.

Virginia Giuffre is suing Andrew in the US for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.

She claims she was trafficked by the Duke of York’s friend, convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, to have sex with him when she was 17 and a minor under US law.

Andrew has strenuously denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, Harry lost his royal patronages and honorary military titles as part of Megxit.

The Duke of Sussex also agreed to stop using his HRH style when he and Meghan Markle quit as working royals for a new life in California.

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