Europe Asia News

UK Defence Minister Luke Pollard told the BBC that the move, which would prevent Andrew from ever becoming king, was “the right thing to do,” regardless of the outcome of the police investigation.

Currently, Andrew, the King’s brother, is eighth in the line of succession, despite having been stripped last October of his titles, including “prince,” due to his links to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

On Thursday evening, Andrew was released as part of the investigation, 11 hours after being detained on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has consistently and strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s “Any Questions” programme, Pollard confirmed that the government is “absolutely” working with Buckingham Palace on plans to prevent the former prince from being “one step away from the throne.”

“I hope this will receive cross-party support, but it is right that this should only happen once the police investigation has concluded,” he said.