Britain's disgraced former Duke of York remains on a secret government list for a taxpayer-backed royal funeral, and lawmakers, victims' attorneys, and royal watchers on both sides of the Atlantic want to know why.
Senior Whitehall sources told The Mail on Sunday that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, is still covered by one of the UK government's closely guarded "bridge" plans, the codename system used to coordinate high-profile royal funerals. The arrangement persists even though King Charles stripped Andrew of his HRH style and prince title last November, and even though Andrew lost his honorary military titles amid the Jeffrey Epstein scandal years earlier.
Andrew is, by every formal measure, a private citizen. He holds no working royal role. He carries no military rank beyond his personal service record. Yet the Cabinet Office, which oversees the bridge plans, has not removed him from the list. A source indicated the plan has "likely been revised" to reflect his changed status, but not canceled.
Gloria Allred, a US attorney who has represented 27 of Epstein's victims, did not hold back. She framed the funeral plan as a direct affront to the people Andrew's conduct harmed most.
"Andrew has brought disgrace upon the Royal Family and the UK as a result of his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Under these circumstances, the question arises as to why this man should be afforded the honour of a royal funeral. What kind of message would such a ceremony send to Epstein's victims?"
Allred also raised the cost question directly: "Additionally, why should UK taxpayers bear the burden of paying his expenses either in life or after his death?"
Spencer Kuvin, another US lawyer who represented nine Epstein victims, echoed that objection. "Taxpayers should not ever be funding a funeral for a private individual," Kuvin said. "No public money should be used to benefit him during death. It's an embarrassment to the Crown."
The Epstein scandal's reach continues to ripple through the royal family. The fallout has reportedly strained Princess Beatrice's marriage, and the broader institution has struggled to contain the damage Andrew's association with the convicted sex offender has caused.
Alicia Kearns, the Tory shadow Home Office minister, left no room for ambiguity. "There are no circumstances under which Andrew should be afforded a royal funeral," she said.
"He should live out his days far from public life, and the police and CPS should ensure their investigations into him are robust and don't drag on. All such plans should be revoked immediately."
Kearns's reference to police and Crown Prosecution Service investigations implies active inquiries, though no official body has publicly confirmed their current status. British detectives have reportedly traveled to the United States to interview Virginia Giuffre's family as part of the Andrew probe, a sign the investigative trail has not gone cold.
Tory MP Joe Robertson put the taxpayer argument in the plainest terms:
"Public funds should not bankroll Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's funeral. He has lost all his royal titles and publicly funded roles for a reason. He is an ordinary citizen, one who still has a lot of questions to answer, and his funeral should be paid for privately just like everyone else."
Norman Baker, a former government minister described as an expert in royal finances, called the arrangement "an oversight." He added: "Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is a commoner and should in no way be getting any sort of royal funeral."
The bridge plans are modeled on the frameworks used for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Elizabeth's funeral, held in 2022 under the codename "Operation London Bridge," included a service at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Philip's funeral followed the plan designated "Operation Forth Bridge" and was held at the same chapel. Both were major state events involving military honors, public processions, and significant government coordination.
Andrew's anticipated funeral would also center on St George's Chapel, the same 14th-century chapel where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex married in 2018. Burial would follow at the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore, a 33-acre private cemetery in Windsor's Home Park. That cemetery already holds the remains of King Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in disgrace in 1936 to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson.
The closest precedent for a scaled-down royal funeral may be Princess Margaret's in 2002. Margaret died at 71 after a stroke and cardiac complications. Her coffin was carried by eight sergeants from the Royal Highland Fusiliers, a regiment in which she held the honorary title of colonel-in-chief. Roughly 400 mourners attended the service at St George's Chapel, including 30 royals. Police erected barriers at Windsor's castle gates for 3,000 members of the public to watch the cortege pass. Flags flew at half-mast across all royal residences for a six-day mourning period.
Andrew's situation differs from Margaret's in one fundamental respect: Margaret held her royal titles until death. Andrew does not. He lost his honorary colonelcies of the Grenadier Guards, the Royal Irish Regiment, and the Royal Regiment of Scotland as the Epstein scandal deepened. King Charles later removed his HRH style and prince title entirely.
Andrew's public role effectively ended in 2019 when he stepped away from royal duties over his association with Epstein. Royal expert Shannon Felton Spence told Fox News that Queen Elizabeth's funeral may have been "the last we see of Andrew with the family," noting that King Charles "doesn't have the same fondness for Andrew as his mother did."
That prediction has largely held. Andrew was notably absent from public aspects of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June 2022, despite being listed in the official program. He reached a multimillion-pound settlement earlier that year with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual exploitation. The New York Post reported that Andrew was banned from wearing his military uniform at the Queen's funeral, forced instead into a morning suit, a visible marker of his diminished standing.
The Queen herself had stripped Andrew of his military and royal titles in January 2022, one day after a Manhattan judge allowed Giuffre's sexual assault lawsuit to proceed. That settlement was reported at approximately $12 million.
The broader royal family has faced sustained turmoil in recent years. King Charles has reportedly grown frustrated with ongoing family upheaval, from the Sussex saga to the Andrew crisis, as the institution tries to project stability under a new reign.
Not everyone opposes the funeral arrangement. Retired Rear Admiral Chris Parry, who captained the Royal Navy's HMS Fearless, argued that Andrew's personal military service, including his time as a Sea King helicopter co-pilot during the Falklands War, earned him a measure of respect that cannot be revoked.
"The guy doesn't relinquish being a naval officer. He wasn't thrown out. He had a Falklands medal and you can't take that away from him and he deserves the credit for that. If somebody said to me 'Would you do it?', I'd do it."
Parry suggested the Navy would likely ask for volunteers to serve as pallbearers rather than order personnel to participate. His position stands alone among the voices quoted in the report. Both the Cabinet Office and Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
Andrew himself did not respond to a request for comment.
The scandal's shadow has reached well beyond Andrew personally. Anti-monarchy activists breached the Buckingham Palace throne room to unfurl a banner linking Andrew to Epstein, a sign that public anger over the matter has not faded and that the institution's handling of the fallout remains under scrutiny.
Several basic questions remain unanswered. The government has not disclosed the specific name or designation of Andrew's bridge plan. No official has explained the legal or procedural basis for keeping a private citizen on the royal funeral list. The estimated cost to taxpayers is unknown. And no one has clarified whether the plan still includes public elements, a procession, half-mast flags, military escorts, or whether it has been scaled back to something closer to a private service.
Queen Elizabeth's funeral at Westminster Abbey drew tens of thousands of mourners and 142 Royal Navy personnel to escort the coffin through central London. It was the first monarch's funeral held at the Abbey since King George II's in 1760. That was a ceremony befitting a sovereign who served for 70 years.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor served no one but himself in the years that led to his downfall. A man stripped of every title, honor, and public role, who settled a sexual exploitation lawsuit and whose name remains synonymous with one of the most notorious scandals in modern royal history, has no business receiving a funeral paid for by the people whose trust he squandered.
