Canada urges removal of Prince Andrew from line of succession

Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney said in Tokyo that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be removed from the royal line of succession, calling the former prince’s alleged actions “deplorable”. Carney’s remarks follow similar signals from Australia and New Zealand, with all three governments indicating they would support UK legislation once a police investigation concludes, according to The Guardian and the Evening Standard.

The immediate trigger is legal, not ceremonial. Andrew was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and British police searches were carried out at properties linked to him, the reports say. The allegations stem from documents released by the US justice department relating to Jeffrey Epstein, including emails that appeared to show Andrew sharing reports of official visits while serving as the UK’s trade envoy.

But the practical question is constitutional plumbing. Removing someone from the line of succession is not a palace decision; it would require an act of the UK parliament and the agreement of the 14 other “Commonwealth realms” where King Charles III is head of state, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In other words, a reputational scandal around a single individual can only be resolved through a multi-country legislative process designed for the stability of the crown, not for rapid crisis management.

That structure creates incentives for symbolic bargaining. Dominion governments can present support for removal as a matter of principle while using the moment to restate their role as co-owners of the monarchy’s legal architecture. London, for its part, can signal responsiveness without moving until investigations and parliamentary time allow, and the palace can maintain formal distance by pointing to process.

Carney noted that Andrew is “well down” the succession list but argued that the principle still matters. The Guardian adds that Andrew remains eighth in line and still counts as a counsellor of state—one of the adult royals who can be appointed to stand in for the monarch—though in practice only working royals are used. That gap between legal status and operational reality is part of what the current debate is trying to close: the monarchy’s contingency rules were written for incapacity, not for reputational risk.

Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese wrote to UK prime minister Keir Starmer offering support for removal, calling the allegations “grave”, The Guardian reported. New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon has also indicated backing if London proposes legislation. The UK government, according to the Evening Standard, is expected to consider introducing such a bill after the police investigation is completed.

Carney’s intervention was made at a press scrum in Tokyo. The next concrete step, if any, depends on whether Westminster drafts a bill and whether 14 other parliaments are willing to spend legislative time to move one man further down a list he is unlikely ever to reach.