Prince Andrew has had the Freedom of the City ofYork stripped from him by its council.- In an extraordinary general meeting, councillors voted unanimously to remove the honour.
Prince Andrew has been stripped of the Freedom of the City of York.
Councillors voted unanimously with two abstentions to remove the honour, which was bestowed upon Andrew in 1987.
The motion was supported by the Liberal Democrats and Greens, who control the council, as well as the Labour and Conservative groupings.
The motion was introduced after Andrew reached a settlement with Virginia Giuffre. Giuffre had brought a sexual-assualt lawsuit against him. In the joint settlement, Andrew did not admit to sexually abusing Giuffre and did not disclose the amount of money paid in a nonprofit run by Giuffre advocating for victims of trafficking.
Insider spoke with Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central, ahead of the meeting.
"We're a human rights city. We espouse and promote those rights and values. Andrew by his associations with people who clearly do not uphold those values is concerning in itself."
Passing the motion "would be an appropriate sign", she said.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Darryl Smalley, the council's executive member for culture, proposed the motion.
He said: "The removal of this honorary title sends the right message that we as a city stand with victims of abuse. The next logical step is now for Prince Andrew to do the right thing and relinquish his Duke of York title.
"If he fails to do so, the Government and Buckingham Palace must step in to remove his title to finally end Prince Andrew's connection to York."
Smalley told Insider that any resident of York would do so. Councillor Dave Taylor suggested Andrew's daughter, Beatrice, could be made Duchess of York.
Maskell is also campaigning to strip the prince of his Duke of York title. Andrew was made the Duke of York in 1986.
"Nobody has the power to remove a title, that can only be achieved if there is legislation," Maskell said.
"That challenge falls to the next Parliamentary session, first of all to see if the government brings anything forward, but if not, I've been looking at this with the clerks."
In January, Insider spoke to residents of York on their views of Andrew's title. Several said it should be removed from him, with a few offering to take up the title themselves.
The vote took place at an extraordinary general meeting of the City of York Council at York Racecourse.
In January, the racecourse announced it would seek to rebrand the horse race called the Duke of York Stakes to the 1895 Duke of York Stakes. It was originally named after Prince George, later George V, who was in 1895 the Duke of York.
At the meeting, a member of the public called on the council to never again refer to Andrew as the Duke of York, only as Andrew Windsor.
"He needs to be declared persona non grata", Gwen Swinburn said. She told councillors they should write to the racecourse to say they should never invite Andrew again.