Royal women to take command in reshuffle of defence roles

Scandals surrounding Prince Andrew means the military will look to royal women as honorary leaders

Prince Andrew was forced to step down from his military patronages following sex abuse allegations. EPA

British officials have warned leading regiments not to lobby for their favourite royals as the female members of the Windsors look likely to fill the openings created when honorary commands were removed from the princes Andrew and Harry.

Lt Gen Roly Walker has written to members of the Grenadier Guards to say Prince Andrew’s position of Colonel would be reallocated to another royal in due course after the Queen took back her son's military titles as he fights against sexual misconduct allegations in New York.

“There is no timeline for this, but when the time comes, the Regimental Council will respond to and advise Buckingham Palace,” he wrote.

“The Ministry of Defence have subsequently asked me to request that well-meaning lobbying is avoided and that your regimental personnel refrain from speculating in public on this subject.”

The high drama and the low puns such as “Throne Out” that surrounded Queen Elizabeth II’s decision to strip her second son, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, of his military and royal roles last week has far-reaching implications for the Armed Forces.

Many military patronage jobs are up for grabs for which women are expected to step to the fore.

Defence officials have ordered regiments not to lobby for their favourite members of the royal family.

More than 150 Royal Navy, RAF and Army veterans had written to the Queen, calling for Prince Andrew to be stripped of all his titles and ranks in the British Armed Forces.

The veterans said they were “particularly upset and angry” he had retained his titles and accused him of bringing the armed forces into disrepute.

Prince Andrew surrendered many of the roles at the Queen’s request and it’s said that her the decision was one “widely discussed” with senior royals, including his brother the Prince of Wales and nephew, Prince William.

Along with his military titles go 195 of his royal patronages. But, as Prince Harry discovered in his flight from the royal family and royal duties, the loss of the former will hurt the most.

Prince Andrew and Prince Harry are the only members of the current royal family to have served in the armed forces, and set much store in holding prestigious honorary positions.

Prince Andrew will lose his role as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, which he took over from his father, Prince Philip, in 2017. It is one of the most senior infantry regiments in the British army.

Also going are: Honorary air commodore of RAF Lossiemouth; Colonel-in-chief of the Royal Irish Regiment; Colonel-in-chief of the Small Arms School Corps; Colonel-in-chief of The Royal Lancers; Colonel-in-chief of the Yorkshire Regiment; Commodore-in-chief of the Fleet Air Arm; Royal Col of the Royal Highland Fusiliers; and Royal Col of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. He retains his service role as a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy.

Maj Gen Julian Thompson, a military historian and former Royal Marines officer, said: “These titles will now be assumed by other members of the Royal Family as decided by Her Majesty the Queen. The number of possible candidates had already been reduced when Prince Harry lost all his military titles – some have still to be filled, for example the post of Captain General of the Royal Marines. Now there are even fewer adult royals available for these posts.

“The job of a colonel of a regiment, or its equivalent, as performed by our royal family is not a sinecure. They all take a close personal interest in the activities of 'their regiment', are briefed regularly by an officer from that regiment, and personally welcome them back from operational tours of duty. This is both time-consuming and requires dedication. Having two less royals available for these duties will impose a further burden on those who remain.”

Sources have, nonetheless, stressed that these patronages and honours would never be returned to the Duke of York, regardless of what might happen in the future.

Maj Gen Thompson commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War, when Prince Andrew was serving.

The royal family might have waited until the result of the civil case Virginia Giuffre has brought against Prince Andrew was announced later this year, but the fact they haven’t shows just how much the prince, and his repeated failures of judgement, was toxifying their brand in the year of the monarch’s Platinum Jubilee. His friendships with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender and Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted child sex trafficker - whatever the result of the Ms Guiffre’s court case against him – really do stick in the national craw.

A former chief of the general staff, the professional head of the British Army, commended the decision to strip Prince Andrew of his titles.

“It was the right move at the right time, and undoubtedly senior officers will be breathing a sigh of relief. Her Majesty acted appropriately.”

So, who will inherit these now orphaned military titles? Hard-working Princess Anne, who turned 70 last year, already has a multitude of military titles, although senior military sources say the Princess Royal is “nailed on” to become the first female Captain General of the Royal Marines when the Queen divides up Prince Harry’s titles.

The Duchess of Cambridge still has a young family to raise and patronage of more than 20 charitable and military organisations, but is expected to step into the breach.

Another possibility is Prince Edward’s wife, the popular Countess of Wessex. Close to the Queen, and indeed to the late Duke of Edinburgh, Sophie Wessex is often described as a safe pair of hands. She is currently Colonel-in-Chief of Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps; Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Corps of Army Music; Lady Sponsor of HMS Daring; Royal Colonel of the 5th Battalion the Rifles and Honorary Air Commodore Royal Air Force Wittering. A long-time working royal, she and her husband have already taken on more responsibilities since Prince Harry’s departure.

The Duchess of Cornwall, herself from a military family, has been afforded more than half a dozen military titles across the three Armed Services since her marriage to Prince Charles. Most recent to the list of military honours is Colonel in Chief of The Rifles, a position passed to her when the Duke of Edinburgh retired in 2020.

There is a poignant impeding anniversary that means a great deal to the disgraced prince. This April, Britain will mark the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War.

The prince, then 22, served as a frontline helicopter pilot in the conflict. Few Britons who were adults in the early 1980s will have forgotten the image of a smiling Prince Andrew arriving back in Portsmouth, disembarking from HMS Invincible with a rose between his teeth.

Now his ignominious fall from grace is likely to be the abiding memory. Stretched though they may be by these events and Prince Harry’s departure, it looks like the sure-footed poise and the admirable capacity for hard work of the royal women may yet save the day.

Or to coin a military phrase that, at Her Majesty’s request, they will be the ones to take up their posts and report for duty.