VIDEO: Move to rename Prince Andrew Way – one of four such roads in Northern Ireland – as mother shreds his royal status

There are four roads in Northern Ireland named in his honour, including a major one in Carrickfergus.

Prince Andrew Way is a long arterial road running through the middle of the town.

Menawhile in Dungannon there is a loyalist-dominated cul-de-sac called Prince Andrew Crescent.

And between south Belfast’s loyalist Sandy Row and Village districts there is a Prince Andrew Park and a Prince Andrew Gardens.

Now two DUP figures have told the News Letter the major Carrick road should be renamed.

When asked about this, Davy Hilditch (DUP MLA for East Antrim) said: “The answer is yes. He’s basically losing everything at this stage.

“I know there’ll be an argument maybe in relation to ‘not-guilty-until-proven-so’.

“But I think with the issues that have surrounded this, and the likes of the photographs that have appeared, the local council should be looking to take some action on the road.

“It’s probably one of the easier ones to re-name to be honest; bar the businesses there, the addresses would be minimal. Most of the estates are off Prince Andrew Way.

“I think they should look into it in light of the news on Thursday in relation to his other honourary titles and positions being removed.”

And DUP councillor for Carrickfergus Cheryl Brownlee said that she has already written to Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to suggest renaming the road.

“I’ve suggested [something] in reference to the centenary of Northern Ireland, or the Platinum Jubilee,” she said. “But I think it’d be quite good if we did a community consultation on that.

“In light of Our Majesty’s actions, removing the titles and other patronages and things, I do think this is the most appropriate thing.”

The removal of Andrew’s titles is just the latest twist in what is now a 12-year-old scandal involving his friendship with now-dead child-molesting billionaire Jeffrey Epstein – and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was recently convicted of acting as a kind of pimp for Epstein, supplying him with underage girls.

Epstein was first convicted in 2008 of “procuring for prostitution a girl below age 18”, but he was given extremely soft terms – an 18 months jail term, during which he was allowed to just walk in and out of his own private wing of a low-security prison for 12 hours each day.

The far greater scope of Epstein and Maxwell’s crimes has gradually leaked out ever since then, but their full extent may never be known.

It is thought that hundreds of underage girls could have been duped into giving Epstein and his friends “massages”, often with promises that their education would be paid for.

The Prince (whose actual name is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) had been friends with Epstein since the 1990s, and continued staying at his mansions until at least December 2010, despite his conviction and swirling rumours of more widespread crimes.

He denies any wrongdoing, and is currently facing a civil – not criminal – court case.

More from this reporter:

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Click here – Wall of silence: Home Office suggests it is dangerous to tell public details about turning Carrickfergus hotel into base for foreign nationals

Click here – Criminalising conversion therapy: Northern Ireland must avoid – not mimic – Canada’s new law says transgender writer

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