John Kennedy

John Kennedy was a political secretary to a member of the Cabinet in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He later served as an equerry and private secretary in the Royal Household.

Andrew Windsor is more vulnerable than ever

There’s been speculation for some time, mostly hushed, occasionally not, that the Epstein case has not yet run its course. The settlement reached in Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit was just that: a settlement, not an exoneration, and certainly not the end of the matter. Questions still hang in the air about who else was involved, who turned a blind eye, and what more may yet come to light. Against that background, the decision to remove Prince Andrew’s remaining titles and honours, quietly but firmly, takes on a significance beyond court circular formalities. Whatever language is used to describe it, this was a final severing of public role from private person.

What is the point of kicking Andrew out of Royal Lodge?

When the Chancellor declares that it is important Prince Andrew ‘pays his way’, in reference to his living arrangements at Royal Lodge, it is difficult not to wince. For the saving at stake is, by any serious reckoning, paltry – about £367,000 a year in additional income to the Exchequer, by my calculations. Not nothing, certainly, but a rounding error in the nation’s accounts, and a curious fixation for a Minister of the Crown who has managed to turn a £20 billion fiscal gap into one nearer £50bn within a single season of ministerial arithmetic – a hole in the nation’s finances that grows every time she opens her mouth. The above figures are not conjecture.

Prince Andrew’s titles cannot be simply stripped

Back-bench MPs are again discussing how to ‘strip’ Prince Andrew of his titles. The frenzy and impulse is public-facing and moral, and while motivations may differ, the method proposed is mostly constitutionally illiterate and impossible. Royal dignities are legal instruments. They are not decorative honours that parliament may remove by political motion. Each exists in law in a distinct way and must be addressed by the procedure appropriate to it. The United Kingdom has clear mechanisms for doing so, but they are formal and precise, which is exactly why they work. Prince Andrew holds three peerages: the Dukedom of York, the Earldom of Inverness and the Barony of Killyleagh. All were created in 1986 by royal charter.