Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has been welcomed to Buckingham Palace just days after saying Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should lose his place in the line of succession.
Mark Carney, who took office in 2025 and later had his tenure confirmed in a general election win, met King Charles at the Palace as the row over the former prince’s place in the succession continued.
King Charles has stripped his younger brother of his royal titles and honours and also seen him move to a home on the Sandringham estate after giving up the lease on the 30 room mansion, Royal Lodge, on the Windsor estate.
However, Andrew remains in the line of succession – he is currently eighth. He can only be removed by an Act of Parliament and all fifteen realms where Charles III is king would have to agree before it could happen.
The decision of Canada’s PM to weigh on on the debate gave the possible move added momentum. Just a a few days ago, Mr Carney discussed the issue with reporters and said that the ”deplorable” actions of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor meant he needed to be removed from the succession.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s friendship with the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, has led to sharp criticism. The former prince has always denied any wrongoign.
In February 2026, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested at his new home in Norfolk by officers investigating claims of misconduct in public office. He was later released under investigation.
Mark Carney met King Charles during a visit to the UK which had earlier taken him to Downing Street.
He isn’t the first PM to show approval for the removal of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession. In February, Antony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia, wrote to Sir Keir Starmer saying that his own government would not oppose plans to take the former prince out of the line to the throne.
Mr Albanese said ”These are grave allegations and Australians take them seriously.”
The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, has also shown his backing for the removal, saying ”should the UK government decide to remove him from the line of succession, that is something we would support.”
Currently, Andrew has seven people in front of him in the line to the throne but he is senior enough to be called on to act as a Counsellor of State, one of the people who can temporarily stand in for King Charles.
Under the Regency Act of 1937, the first four adults in the line of succession can be counsellors – two of them must exercise the role together. And Andrew is one of those adults. Prince Harry is another. Following his succession to the throne, King Charles asked parliament to add Prince Edward and Princess Anne to the roster of counsellors and it agreed. That means it is highly unlikely that Andrew would ever be asked to take on the role.
The Regency Act also stipulates who can stand in for a monarch permanently if they are incapacitated or under the age of 18. The regency falls to the next qualifying adult in the succession. If King Charles needs a regent, it would be Prince William who stepped in. However, if William as king needed a regent or if any of his children succeeded before the age of 18, then the role would fall to Prince Harry. The Act also talks about residency in the UK so if Harry’s address in the US was a problem, the next in line to be regent would be Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
