Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Still Set for a Royal Funeral

He has lost his prince title, his dukedom, his military honours, his royal residence and, most recently, his freedom for eleven hours following a police arrest. Yet Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, it turns out, may still be entitled to one final act of royal ceremony — a royal funeral.

The Mail on Sunday has reported that Andrew remains on a confidential government roster covering senior royals whose deaths would trigger elaborate state preparations. According to the report, senior Whitehall sources have confirmed that, as things currently stand, the former Duke of York is still included on that list — and the news has already sparked debate among royal watchers and commentators, even though Andrew, 66, is very much still alive.

The British government plans royal funerals years — sometimes decades — in advance, with each set of arrangements assigned a code name based on a British bridge. Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022 activated "Operation London Bridge", while Prince Philip's passing triggered "Operation Forth Bridge." Andrew's own arrangements, should they proceed along current lines, are expected to follow a template similar to Princess Margaret's funeral in 2002 — a private service at St. George's Chapel in Windsor, attended by around 400 people, with the public dimension limited to the arrival and departure of the coffin.

Burial would likely follow at the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore in Windsor, a site that has housed members of the royal family since the Royal Vault beneath St. George's Chapel began running short of space. Among those already interred there are Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936, and his wife Wallis Simpson.

Andrew could also retain one last connection to the Royal Navy in death, despite King Charles removing his honorary vice admiral rank in 2025. He served in the Navy from 1979 to 2001 and saw active duty during the Falklands War, and crucially, he was allowed to keep his service medals.

It is a rare note of continuity for a man whose public standing has collapsed almost entirely over the past several years. Andrew stepped back from royal duties in 2019 following his ill-fated BBC interview about his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He subsequently lost his military affiliations and patronages, before King Charles stripped him of his remaining royal titles in October 2025 as scrutiny over the Epstein connection deepened further.

The situation took a still more dramatic turn in February 2026 when police arrested Andrew on allegations that he had misused his public office by passing confidential information to Epstein. He was held for around eleven hours before being released without charge at that stage. King Charles responded with notable restraint, saying only that "the law must take its course."

Andrew had already been forced to vacate Royal Lodge, his 31-room Windsor home, after handing back his 75-year lease to the Crown Estate amid the Epstein fallout. He has since relocated to Marsh Farm on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, with the property reportedly funded by the King. The former lodge, along with six cottages in its grounds, has since been described as looking like a ghost town.

Underlining just how much the landscape around Royal Lodge has changed, golf legend Justin Rose — whose six-bedroom Georgian mansion sits next door to the property — has now listed his own home for sale at £3.5 million after losing a planning battle to extend it. Rose's connection to his former neighbour stretches back to 1998, when he played a round at Sunningdale alongside Andrew as a young golfing prospect.

For now, the question of how — and with what ceremony — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will one day be commemorated remains, for obvious reasons, a largely theoretical one. But the fact that it is already generating argument speaks to the extraordinary and unresolved tensions surrounding a man who was once fourth in line to the throne.