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A town in Northern Ireland is set to change the name of a road honouring the UK’s disgraced ex-Prince Andrew, weeks after he was stripped of his royal titles over his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mid and East Antrim Council unanimously voted this week to rename Prince Andrew Way in the town of Carrickfergus, following King Charles III’s decision to remove his brother from public life last month due to the still-unravelling scandal.
The 65-year-old former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has faced growing scrutiny in recent months over new revelations about his friendship with Epstein.
A recently-released posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre — one of Epstein’s best-known accusers — accused Mountbatten-Windsor of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager. The former royal has denied those claims.
Following the Northern Irish council’s vote, staff said they would begin the name-changing process for the street, which will involve a public consultation.
Councillor Anna Henry, of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) party, said the motion was “sad but necessary”.
“Regrettably the alleged actions of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have made it impossible for this council to continue honouring him in the manner the good people of Mid and East Antrim have done in the past.”
The councillor who brought the motion, Lauren Gray of the Alliance Party, said it would be fitting to rename the street after the UK’s late Queen Elizabeth II, but stressed that the public should have a say in the process.
Renaming Prince Andrew Way will have implications for residents, such as changing addresses for bank accounts, credit cards, driver’s licences and utility bills, the council said.
The street in Carrickfergus was given that title in 1986 to mark Mountbatten-Windsor’s marriage to Sarah Ferguson.
Residents in other parts of the UK have also asked their local councils to rename streets named after the former prince, according to British media reports.
In recent weeks, pressure has grown on Mountbatten-Windsor to give evidence to a US congressional committee investigating Epstein.
On Monday, the UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested that the ex-prince should testify before the House Oversight Committee. The committee has requested a “transcribed interview” about his “long-standing friendship” with Epstein.