Prince Andrew’s banner removed from St. George’s Chapel

Prince Andrew’s banner no longer hangs in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.

The banner, linked to his membership of the Order of the Garter, is believed to have been removed earlier this week.

It follows the announcement last week from the prince that he would no longer use his royal titles or the honours that he had received.

That included membership of the Order of the Garter, the oldest order of chivalry in the country.

Knights of the Garter have their banners displayed in the chapel.

Prince Andrew was given the honour in 2006.

His royal banner had hung in the Quire but is now no longer present.

As well as membership of the ancient order, founded by King Edward III in the 14th century, Prince Andrew gave up use of the titles he had held since 1986.

On his wedding day, he was made Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

However, he now no longer uses the titles and is known as Prince Andrew. He stopped using his HRH in 2022.

The titles won’t become extinct until he dies. That has led to controversy with calls for him to be permanently stripped of the titles in his lifetime.

There has also been increasing pressure for him to leave his home at Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate. The 30 room property, with extensive grounds has been his residence since 2003.

Papers this week show he pays only a peppercorn rent. It means that he must hand over one peppercorn every year, if it’s asked for. As part of this deal, he also agreed to pay for refurbishments on the property.

It comes as his friendship with convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, was put in the spotlight again after the publication of correspondence between the two in which Andrew told Epstein that we are ”in this together”.

The posthumous memoir of Virginia Giufrre has also been published this week. In it, she says she was made to have sex with Prince Andrew three times when she was 17 years old. He has always denied the allegations.

The King has kept a busy diary as the controversy rumbles on. He paid a State Visit to the Vatican City where he became the first English king to pray publicly alongside a Pope since the Reformation and Henry VIII’s break with Rome in the 16th century.

On his return, he welcomed the President of Ukraine, Vlodomyr Zelenskyy, to Windsor Castle.