Councils will not be forced to give Prince Andrew a birthday flag tribute after Liverpool said no to the government order.
On Thursday, Mayor Joe Anderson made it clear that Liverpool Council will not be flying the Union Jack flag to mark the birthday of Prince Andrew.
The city leader was responding to reports that councils around the country have been ordered to fly the flag from town hall buildings on February 19 to mark the Duke of York's 60th birthday.
But now according to Mirror Online, no local council will be required to pay tribute to the Queen's son.
On Thursday night, the government said the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) had rowed back because of Prince Andrew's decision to withdraw from public duties.
A Government spokesman said: "DCMS will be advising Councils that there is no requirement to fly flags on the 19th February following the decision by the Duke of York to step back from public duties for the foreseeable future."
It was reported that councils previously received an email from government telling them to mark the occasion - despite the Queen cancelling the formal celebration for her son's birthday f ollowing his disastrous Newsnight appearance.
Responding to the reports today, Mayor Anderson made it absolutely clear that Liverpool Council will not be obeying any such requests from government.
He said: "No, we won't be doing that.
"I don't think that would be appropriate."
He added: "This isn't to do with being anti-royal, we have flown the flag for the Queen before.
"But Prince Andrew isn't a major royal, he's not a significant member of the Royal Family."
Mayor Anderson also made reference to the fact Prince Andrew is facing scrutiny over his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein - the billionaire financier.
The Duke's activities were the subject of a car-crash interview on Newsnight that resulted in him stepping back from public duties - but questions about his conduct continue to be asked.
Mayor Anderson added: "When you look at his behaviour - it wouldn't be appropriate for us to mark his birthday."
