Grenadier Guards want the Duchess of Cambridge as their new colonel to replace Prince Andrew
Deploy Kate Middleton! Grenadier Guards want the Duchess of Cambridge as their new Colonel to replace shamed Prince Andrew and make her the first woman to hold the honorary role in the regiment’s 366-year history
The Grenadier Guards are believed to want Kate Middleton as the new colonelPrince Andrew lost the honorary role after being stripped of his military titlesKate would be the first appointed female colonel in regiment’s 366-year history It comes amid a sex assault lawsuit brought against Andrew by Virginia Giuffre
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The Grenadier Guards are believed to want Kate Middleton to replace Prince Andrew as their new colonel.
The Duke of York lost his honorary position after the Queen stripped him of his HRH title and military and charitable affiliations.
The role of colonel was returned to Her Majesty by default, but senior officials are understood to want the Duchess of Cambridge to take on the position.
If she were to take on the role, Kate, 40, would be the first appointed female colonel in the regiment’s 366-year history.
A senior source in the Grenadier Guards told The Times: ‘From straw polling through the ranks, they would all love it to be Kate.
‘We all admire the way she has fitted in and behaved, she never seems to put a foot wrong.’
The Grenadier Guards are understood to want the Duchess of Cambridge (pictured) to take on the honorary role of colonel after the Duke of York was stripped of his remaining military titles
A military source told the publication the name of the new colonel was due to have been announced on Monday but it was delayed.
The source said it ‘wasn’t the Duchess of Cambridge’, but claimed the fact that the announcement was not made means they ‘have been thinking about it again’.
The new colonel is decided by the regiment and the Queen, 95, who took on Andrew’s role by default.
Formed in 1656 by King Charles II, the Grenadier Guards have fought in almost every major campaign of the British Army, including the Napoleonic, Crimean, Boer, First and Second World Wars.
Andrew, 61, inherited the honorary role with the Grenadier Guards from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, when he retired from public life in 2017.
It was one of the positions that he clung to when he first stepped back from official duties in 2019.
But Andrew lost his honorary role when he was stripped of his military titles amid a sex assault lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre in the United States.
Ms Giuffre claims she was trafficked by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to have sex with the prince three times when she was a teenager. The Duke of York vehemently denies the allegations.
Prince Andrew, 61, (pictured) inherited the role with the Grenadier Guards from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh, when he retired from public life in 2017
If Kate were to take on the role, she would be the first appointed female colonel in regiment’s 366-year history. Pictured: Members of the Grenadier Guards at Buckingham Palace
He must now fight claims of rape and sexual assault in the US courts as a private citizen.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that Andrew could lose his round-the-clock police protection as early as next month after he was exiled as a frontline royal.
Sources said a full review of his security is being carried out by the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office.
Andrew, who remains ninth in line to the throne, has so far been allowed to keep his taxpayer-funded police bodyguards at a cost to the public purse of an estimated £2-3million a year.
This has sparked intense public debate, particularly because his nephew, Prince Harry, was stripped of his police protection when he quit as a working royal in 2020 and moved to the United States.
‘Although no-one will comment on it publicly, this is an issue that is now actively being discussed by the Met’s Royal and VIP Executive Committee,’ a source told the Daily Mail.
‘The situation [as regards Harry] is awkward and may prompt a decision sooner rather than later. If Harry, who is no longer a working royal, does not get security in the UK, then why should Andrew?’
Andrew, who lives in 30-room Royal Lodge on the Queen’s Windsor estate, will always benefit from the round-the-clock protection that comes with living in proximity to a royal residence.
It comes after Prince Andrew was stripped of his military titles amid a sex assault lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre (pictured) in the United States
But it is the security that accompanies him away from the estate that will be under discussion.
His children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, had their official royal security taken away several years ago following public outrage at their globe-trotting antics, which saw officers regularly follow them on trips abroad.
His ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, who still lives with him, has not officially had any taxpayer-funded security since they divorced in 1996.
Other royals including Princess Anne and Prince Edward have had their security scaled back, while royal grandchildren including Zara Tindall and Peter Phillips have never had it as adults.
Neither the Metropolitan Police nor the Home Office would comment at the time, nor would a representative for Andrew.
Dai Davies, a former head of royal security at Scotland Yard, said of Andrew possibly losing his bodyguards: ‘It is a big step, although the likely risk is small, and there would be strong arguments to be made that he does not require “PPO” [personal protection officer] status if he is no longer a working royal.’
