The City of London Corporation is set to formally censure Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after he did not respond to a request to give up the Freedom of the City of London, according to an email sent to members on May 7. The motion will go before the next meeting of the Court of Common Council, with the Corporation still saying it has no way to strip the honour itself.
Deputy Christopher Hayward said the motion would amount to “a formal expression of our disapproval,” and added that “to date, the City Corporation has received no response.” He also said the Corporation’s thoughts “remain firmly with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and all those affected by his appalling crimes.”
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received the Freedom of the City of London in 2012 by patrimony from his father, Prince Philip. The City Corporation wrote to him on April 16 asking him to relinquish it, after concluding in March that it could not remove the honour on its own because there is “currently no effective legal mechanism to remove a Freedom.”
The move comes after King Charles stripped Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his royal titles, styles and honours last year and after his arrest in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He spent 11 hours in custody before being released under investigation.
The Freedom of the City of London is now largely ceremonial, but it is still awarded regularly, with figures such as Sir Lenny Henry and Cate Blanchett among recent recipients. That has sharpened pressure on the Corporation to find a way to act, with some City of London guides and senior councillors urging it to seek legislation from Parliament instead. Alderwoman Martha Grekos has said the City should apply to Parliament to make removal possible.
The next Court of Common Council meeting is pencilled in for May 21, when members are expected to decide whether the censure motion goes ahead. For now, the answer to the Corporation’s April 16 request is the same one Hayward put on the record: no response, and no legal route to take the honour away.
