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King Charles will not strip Andrew of his Falklands War medal for flying a Sea King helicopter in the deadly 1982 conflict.
Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday night that the former Duke of York, 65, will now only be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
In a bombshell statement, the Palace coldly announced the ‘censures [were] deemed necessary’ amid the growing controversy surrounding his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, with whom Andrew lied about cutting ties.
Within hours, the former royal was erased from the Roll of the Peerage, and it was revealed he could face a private prosecution over allegations of sexual assault, corruption and misconduct in public office.
He was even tipped for a final humiliation, with John Healey, the Defence Secretary, suggesting on Sunday that he faces being stripped of his honorary vice-admiral rank and could even lose his military medals.
But in a suprising reprive Andrew has been allowed to keep his operational service medals, including the one he won in the Falklands.
The disgraced prince served for 22 years in the Navy, including throughout the victorious campaign in the South Atlantic where he was the co-pilot of a Sea King helicopter.
He conducted anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, casualty evacuation and search and rescue missions.
Andrew pictured during service in the Falklands War. King Charles will not strip the disgraced prince of his medal for flying a Sea King helicopter in the deadly 1982 conflict
The former royal on his arrival back in the UK, where he was handed a red rose by his mother Elizabeth II, pictured right, before placing it between his teeth
Andrew also played the role of a decoy for Argentina’s Exocet missiles, flying over aircraft carriers to prompt anti-ship weapons.
Veterans of the war previously said it would be ‘morally indefensible’ to remove a medal earned through active service.
Simon Weston, 64, 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.’
The veteran, who was heavily burned when his troop transport was attacked during the war, added that the Government had no right to take people’s belongings, particularly those won in conflict.
He noted that other people convicted of crimes, including murderers, had been able to hang on to their medals.
A senior defence source said: ‘Instinctively if one does something brave it seems extraordinary to then go and say someone hasn’t done something brave.
Andrew had only been serving with 820 Naval Air Squadron aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible for nine weeks when Argentinian forces occupied the Falklands in April 1982.
The former Duke of York will now only be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, after an announcement by Buckingham Palace last week
Andrew pictured with the late Queen, his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Princess Anne in 1982. He has been allowed to keep his operational service medals
Andrew pictured with his Royal Navy Helicopter. He conducted anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, casualty evacuation and search and rescue missions
His role as a pilot involved particularly dangerous missions which were a cause for concern for Margaret Thatcher’s government who tried to have the Duke of York moved to a desk job.
However, it was the late Queen who insisted the Duke, then 22, remain on the ship for the duration of the conflict.
A year later it was revealed the Argentine forces had plotted to assassinate Andrew while he was holidaying on the Caribbean island of Mustique in July 1982.
The plan was only scuppered after the country’s military regime collapsed in the wake of defeat in the Falklands.
Andrew survived the war and came home a hero who was praised for being an excellent pilot. He went on to have a long and active career in the navy.
He famously skipped off the gangplank on his arrival back in the UK, where he was handed a red rose by his mother Elizabeth II before placing it between his teeth.
Andrew won the South Atlantic Medal, also known as the Falklands Medal, as well as an additional rosette for his work in the task force.
Only around one in 10 of the 33,000 medals issued following the conflict were accompanied by a rosette.
Andrew also played the role of a decoy for Argentina’s Exocet missiles, flying over aircraft carriers to prompt anti-ship weapons
The former prince greeting crowds with his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, on his return from the South Atlantic
Andrew previously had his military affiliations and charity patronages removed by the late Queen in January 2022, just before his financial settlement with sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Andrew was made a vice-admiral on his 55th birthday in 2015 and retained the rank after giving up his other military positions in 2022 amid controversy over his friendship with the late US financier and convicted paedophile Epstein.
But Mr Healey suggested he could lose those honours in another moment of humiliation for the former prince.
The new moves would need the blessing of King Charles, a former Royal Navy officer and Andrew’s elder brother, Mr Healey said.
Mr Healey told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: ‘In general, the Government’s been guided by the decisions and judgments the King has made.
‘In defence, it’s exactly the same – and we’ve seen Andrew surrender the honorary positions he’s had throughout the military, and guided again by the King, we are working now to remove that last remaining title of vice-admiral that he has.’
Asked whether Andrew could lose his military medals as well, Mr Healey said they were ‘medals for his service’ – Andrew having been part of Navy efforts in the 1982 Falklands War against Argentina.
Mr Healey added: ‘I don’t have an update for you on that, but just as with his vice-admiral rank and title, we would be guided by the decisions the King makes.’
Andrew pictured with Margaret Thatcher at the 25th anniversary of the end of the Falklands War in 2007
He previously had his military affiliations and charity patronages removed by the late Queen in January 2022 (pictured: Andrew in 2007)
Andrew, who remained on the Navy’s Active List until 2001, had also been Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm, Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Lossiemouth, Royal Colonel of the Royal Highland Fusiliers (2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland) and Colonel-in-Chief of the 9th/12th Lancers, the Royal Irish Regiment, the Small Arms School Corps and the Yorkshire Regiment.
Buckingham Palace announced last Thursday how Andrew would no longer be known as a prince and would leave Royal Lodge in Windsor – instead taking up residence ahead on the family’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
King Charles stripped his brother of titles after weeks of pressure to act over Andrew’s relationship with Epstein, who died in prison in August 2019 aged 66.
Andrew earlier last month said he would no longer use the title Duke of York following revelations about his friendship with Epstein and renewed sexual abuse allegations by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre in her posthumous memoir.
The Mail on Sunday last month revealed how Andrew tried to involve the Metropolitan Police and one of Queen Elizabeth’s most senior aides in a campaign to smear Ms Giuffre, who had accused him of assaulting her as a teenager.
An email exposed how Andrew asked his taxpayer-funded police bodyguard to investigate the ‘lying’ young woman.
The prince is said to have passed on details of her date of birth and social security number, thought to have been given to him by Epstein.
He also claimed Virginia, who took her own life earlier this year, had criminal convictions, a claim which has not been backed up by any evidence or confirmed by police and has been strongly denied by her family.