BELFAST (Reuters) -A Northern Irish council agreed on Monday to begin work to rename a street named after Britain’s former prince Andrew, the first council in the United Kingdom to do so following King Charles’ decision to remove his brother from public life.
The king last month stripped his younger brother of his title of prince and evicted him from his mansion in a bid to prevent further damage to the royal family’s reputation over Andrew’s ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Residents in other parts of the UK have also called on their local councils to rename streets named after Andrew.
Councillors in the Mid and East Antrim area of Northern Ireland agreed unanimously at a meeting to pursue changing the name of Prince Andrew Way in the town of Carrickfergus and consult with locals on what to rename it.
“This is a sad but necessary motion,” Anna Henry, a councillor with the Traditional Unionist Voice party, told the meeting.
“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 motion put forward by Alliance Party councillor Lauren Gray said it would be a fitting tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth to rename the street after her.
Council staff will now begin work on the name-changing process, including liaising with statutory bodies such as the postal service and the royal household, and examine whether the council can cover any costs for the 10 addresses on the street.
Andrew, 65, the younger brother of Charles and second son of Elizabeth, has come under mounting pressure in recent years over his behaviour and his ties to the late sex offender Epstein. He was also forced to stop using his title of Duke of York last month.
(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson in BelfastWriting by Padraic HalpinEditing by Matthew Lewis)
