British Prince Andrew may be stripped of his title as Duke of York as Labor MP Rachel Maskell (York Central) called for a discussion on how aristocratic titles, which "take their name from a geographical location" are awarded, having previously said that Queen Elizabeth II's controversial second son's title as Duke of York was "untenable."
Less than a week ago, the Queen stripped her son of prestigious honorary military positions and he has stopped using the title of Royal Highness.
Maskell went even further, calling for a debate on whether the future of Andrew's York dukedom, which was given to him by his mother on his wedding day in 1986, should be "determined" by "local people."
"My city of York has developed an interest about how titles are assigned and how they can be removed from people who take the name of a geographical location in their title," she said citing the precedent of the 1917 Act of Parliament used to deprive the enemies of the United Kingdom of their British titles during the First World War.
"In 1917, Parliament enacted the Titles Deprivation Act to remove a title for the act of treason," she added. "Will the Leader make time to debate new legislation that empowers local people to determine the circumstances in which titles are awarded and removed and how that reflects on the geographical location from which a title is taken?"
Maskell said "York has a global reputation, not just through its rich cultural heritage but for the social values it espouses."
Since Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles by his mother and has stopped using his HRH style, Maskell joined the senior members of York City Council in urging the Duke to no longer be associated with the city.
Meanwhile, York Racecourse in the north of England is to rename the horse race the Duke of York Stakes in a bid to distance itself from Andrew. Even though the prestigious 6-furlong (1.2-kilometer, or .75-mile) sprint was named in 1895 after another duke of York – Prince George, the duke of York who became King George V – officials at the course are to attempt to make its history clearer.
James Brennan, the racecourse's head of marketing and sponsorship, told The Yorkshire Post: "It was named in honor of Prince George who went on to become King George V.
"It has never been directly about Prince Andrew," he said. "With that in mind, however, we are going to explore how we can make the name a lot clearer about its history – and that the name refers to an entirely different Duke of York."
The current favorite as a replacement is the 1895 Duke Of York Stakes.
Any change will have to be carried out with the European Pattern Committee, which regulates group races.
The Duke of York Stakes is a Group 2 sprint at the Dante Festival, which is held in May.
The queen is known for her lifelong love of horses and racing, as well as being a successful owner and breeder, with eight decades of involvement in the sport.
Andrew was appointed the racecourse's first patron in 2015, but gave up the position in 2019 after stepping down from public duties following his disastrous appearance on Newsnight.
Virginia Giuffre is suing the duke in the United States for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. She claims she was trafficked by the duke's friend, convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 and a minor under U.S. law. The duke has strenuously denied the allegations.
