Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles will not remove his brother’s Falklands War campaign medal, despite the Government’s decision to strip Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his honorary vice admiral rank.
The Defence Secretary, John Healey, announced on Sunday that the Government would eliminate Andrew’s final remaining title.
However, when questioned about whether Andrew could retain his military medals, Healey stated that the Ministry of Defence would follow whatever decisions the monarch made.
The palace has now clarified that Andrew will keep his Falklands medal along with all other operational service medals he earned.
Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles will not remove his brother’s Falklands War campaign medal, despite the Government’s decision to strip Andrew Mountbatten Windsor of his honorary vice admiral rank.
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This decision comes after the King removed Andrew’s remaining titles last Thursday, leaving him as a commoner without royal status.
Andrew served for 22 years in the Royal Navy, beginning his commission as a sub-lieutenant in 1981.
He had been with 820 Naval Air Squadron on HMS Invincible for just nine weeks when Argentina launched its invasion in April 1982.
During the conflict, the then 22-year-old flew as a Sea King helicopter co-pilot, undertaking anti-submarine operations, anti-surface warfare, medical evacuations and rescue missions.
He also performed the dangerous role of drawing Argentine Exocet missiles away from the aircraft carrier by flying his helicopter as a decoy target.
Andrew served for 22 years in the Royal Navy, beginning his commission as a sub-lieutenant in 1981.
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His service earned him the South Atlantic Medal, commonly called the Falklands Medal, with an additional rosette recognising his actions.
Approximately 33,000 such medals were distributed, but only around 3,300 included the rosette distinction.
Veterans who served in the Falklands have strongly defended the decision to let Andrew keep his medal.
Simon Weston, aged 64, who suffered severe burns when the RFA Sir Galahad came under attack during the war, described any attempt to remove the medal as “morally indefensible”.
“He has lost all other aspects of dignity, respect and honour he was ever once shown,” Weston told The Telegraph.
“But the one thing you cannot strip away from the man no matter how vindictive, vicious or virtue-signalling you want to be is that moment in his life where he was dignified, honourable and courageous.”
A timeline of Andrew’s demise.
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Weston questioned the government’s authority to confiscate what he termed “someone’s property”, emphasising that Andrew had “earned this” through “time and sacrifice”.
A senior defence source who participated in the Falklands campaign described the prospect of removing Andrew’s medal as “extraordinary”.
The source questioned the logic of retrospectively denying someone’s bravery after they had demonstrated courage in combat.
Weston argued that removing the medal would insult other veterans by diminishing the significance of military honours.
“It’s trivialising what the medal stands for. It’s not a gift. It’s something you earn,” he stated.
He expressed concern about what he perceived as attempts to heap further humiliation on Andrew.
“Who he has been involved with is abhorrent but it’s not right to take his medal away,” Weston said.
The late Queen removed Andrew’s military affiliations and charitable patronages in January 2022, just before he reached a financial agreement with Virginia Giuffre, who had accused him of sexual abuse.
Andrew has consistently denied all allegations against him and the settlement included no admission of guilt.
A group of more than 150 veterans from the Royal Navy, RAF and Army had written to the monarch mere hours before her decision, demanding she remove all his military ranks and titles.
Among the positions he lost was the prestigious role of Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, subsequently given to Queen Camilla.