Prince Andrew has retained a key constitutional role as a “counselor of state,” one of four people able to step in and act for King Charles if he is incapacitated, despite his ejection from the ranks of working royals.
While it is considered a possibility that Charles may seek to change the 1937 Regency Act, which states that the first four adults in the line of succession to the throne are automatically entitled to the role, given that two of those people—Andrew and Harry—are no longer part of the institutional side of the family, no such change has happened yet.
A palace source told The Daily Beast: “It’s just the constitution,” and brushed off questions about what may happen in the future, emphasizing that the king wants the focus to be on mourning his mother over the next few days.
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However, the revelation that Andrew’s role as counselor of state still exists has caused bemusement, anger, irritation, and been a subject of much discussion on social media, especially given Andrew’s surprisingly prominent role in the funeral rites for Queen Elizabeth so far.
The other two adults in the line of succession are William and Princess Beatrice, Andrew’s daughter. Beatrice is ninth in line to the throne overall—the five children of William and Harry all precede her.
Andrew was kicked out of the working royal family by the queen early this year as he faced a sex-abuse civil case filed by a woman tied to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein who claimed she was trafficked to the royal while she was still underage. The lawsuit was eventually settled for millions of dollars.
Charles’ sister, Princess Anne, will not become a counselor of state, as she is now 16th in the order of succession. Although the order of succession is now gender-blind, this change to the ancient law of primogeniture only happened in 2013, before Prince George’s birth, and has not been applied retroactively.
There are also question marks over Prince Harry’s continuing eligibility for the role as he now resides outside of the U.K. and the act states that counselors should be British citizens living in the U.K. He is believed to still be eligible by virtue of having a house, Frogmore Cottage, in the U.K.
