He has lost his princehood, dukedom, Order of the Garter knighthood and military titles, but the former Duke of York, now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, can at least keep his campaign medal awarded for active service during the 1982 Falklands conflict.
The defence secretary, John Healey, had already confirmed Mountbatten Windsor would be stripped of his last remaining title, the honorary rank of vice-admiral, which he was given on his 55th birthday in 2015 and retained even after he lost other military positions in 2022.
Asked whether Mountbatten Windsor could lose his military medals as well, Healey said they were “medals for his service”, adding: “Just as with his vice-admiral rank and title, we would be guided by the decisions the king makes.”
Buckingham Palace has now confirmed that King Charles has agreed to his brother retaining the South Atlantic medal, as operational medals are not honours.
The former prince served in the Royal Navy for 22 years. During the military conflict with Argentina over the Falkland Islands he was a Sea King helicopter co-pilot, with one of his tasks being to act as a decoy for Argentina’s Exocet missiles.
He returned from the conflict a “hero” and was famously greeted at the end the gangplank in Portsmouth by his mother, Elizabeth II, who handed him a red rose, which he put between his teeth. He was awarded the South Atlantic Medal, known as the Falklands Medal, with an additional rosette for his actions.
Falklands veterans have said it would be “morally indefensible” for a medal earned through active service to be taken away.
Simon Weston, 64, who was severely burned when his troop transport RFA Sir Galahad was attacked during the conflict, told the Telegraph: “He has lost all other aspects of dignity, respect and honour he was ever once shown. But the one thing you cannot strip away from the man, no matter how vindictive, vicious or virtue-signalling you want to be is that moment in his life where he was dignified, honourable and courageous.”
Another senior defence source who served in the Falklands told the newspaper that to strip Mountbatten Windsor of his campaign medal would be an “extraordinary” move. “Instinctively, if one does something brave it seems extraordinary to then go and say someone hasn’t done something brave,” they said.
A recent YouGov poll of about 6,000 adults found 26% strongly supported him losing his medals, 10% somewhat supported it, while 26% somewhat opposed it, 17% strongly opposed and 22% were undecided.
Andrew, 65, left the navy with the rank of commander. However, he received a promotion under a policy whereby working members of the royal family are promoted in line with peers after they leave military service.
He was stripped of all other titles, including that of prince, by Charles last week in the fallout over his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He has also been ordered to give notice on the lease to his 30-room home, Royal Lodge, on the Windsor estate.
