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Prince Andrew is at the centre of a new row over his use of a special Royal Range Rover fitted with blue emergency lights despite being stripped of his police protection, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The Duke of York – who was banished from Royal duties over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – enjoys the perk of the £100,000 4X4 for horse-riding trips in Windsor and lunch at Harry’s Bar, a glitzy private members’ club in Mayfair.
Critics are stunned that the 64-year-old is still being given privileges despite his fall from grace.
He has been photographed driving the vehicle in Windsor and in central London, and is often followed by his private protection officers in a £60,000 Land Rover Discovery.
The Range Rover is assigned to the Duke and is fitted with police lights, while the ‘back-up’ Land Rover is fitted with amber hazard lights as part of a fleet leased by the Royal Household.
Prince Andrew is at the centre of a new row over his use of a special Royal Range Rover fitted with blue emergency lights (circled) despite being stripped of his police protection
Prince Andrew is spotted on rare outing in London as he leaves Harry’s Bar Members Club. The Duke of York enjoys the perk of the £100,000 4X4 for horse-riding trips in Windsor and lunch at Harry’s Bar, a glitzy private members’ club in Mayfair
It is illegal for the public to fit blue lights to their car, but all members of the Royal Family have a special dispensation so that the vehicles can be used for official engagements and police convoys.
However, as beleaguered Andrew is no longer a working Royal, there are few scenarios – other than state funerals or coronations – where he or his private security team would be allowed to use the lights.
It is understood that the blue lights in Andrew’s Range Rover have never been switched on.
The special treatment has raised eyebrows at Scotland Yard, where sources questioned why ‘this vehicle fitted with emergency equipment is being driven’.
Nazir Afzal OBE, a former Chief Crown Prosecutor, told the MoS: ‘There is no justification for Andrew having these blue lights. The vehicle should be withdrawn.
‘It’s highly inappropriate, suggests arrogance and sends out a message that he is entitled to services that the average citizen wouldn’t be.
‘There needs to be a review so only working Royals should have access to this privilege.’
Dai Davies, former head of royalty protection at Scotland Yard, added: ‘Andrew does not need or warrant these blue lights in the current circumstances. The only rationale would be if his threat level changes and his police protection is reintroduced.’
Prince Andrew during his 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis. Andrew was forced to step down from Royal duties in late 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
Nazir Afzal OBE (pictrued), a former Chief Crown Prosecutor, told the MoS: ‘There is no justification for Andrew having these blue lights. The vehicle should be withdrawn
Royal author Margaret Holder said: ‘There is no purpose to Andrew having these blue lights, except for allowing him to hold on to a special privilege and status symbol.
‘When his adored mother died, Charles got everything and Andrew got the corgis. He is clinging on to one of the last bits of prestige he can.’ Sources close to the Duke say that the cars are not funded by the taxpayer and that Andrew is still a senior Royal as the King’s brother.
But his flashy car contrasts with low-key Zara Tindall, the King’s niece, who was recently photographed driving a humble Hyundai Tucson splattered with mud and bird droppings.
Prince Andrew was stripped of his honours and taxpayer-funded armed police guards at the end of 2022, which previously cost the public up to £3 million a year.
He has made efforts to get it back. Last year former home secretary Dame Priti Patel wrote to the King’s principal private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, suggesting a review of the Duke’s protection, but the email was leaked and Dame Priti apologised.
Andrew was forced to step down from Royal duties in late 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his relationship with Epstein. The disgraced financier had killed himself in a jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in August that year.
In 2022, Andrew paid a reported £7 million settlement to Virginia Giuffre, and later that year he was officially stripped of his Royal title and his police protection. The Duke has vehemently denied all the allegations against him.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘It is our longstanding policy not to provide detailed information on protective security.’
A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment.
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