King Charles saves ex-Prince Andrew’s military achievement: ‘It’s something you earn’

Andrew, the former Duke of York, is one of the few royal family members to have actually served on the frontlines during a war. Now, King Charles is making sure that his younger brother retains the medal that he earned for that service.

The ex-prince was a part of the British Armed Forces in the 1982 Falklands War and had earned the medal for his service. British defence secretary John Healey had previously reported that the disgraced royal will lose the honourary rank of a naval vice admiral, however, he did not have approval for stripping the medal.

“Just as with his vice-admiral rank and title, we would be guided by the decisions the king makes,” Healey had explained.

Buckingham Palace has now announced that the medal will remain safe with Andrew as it is not considered an honour but an achievement.

When speculation about the former duke’s medals initially arose, a fellow veteran from the Falklands conflict, Simon Weston had told The Telegraph, “We need to get hold of our moral compass.”

“Andrew has been stripped of every bit of dignity and honour bestowed on him by his family and country. He has been stripped of being a prince, which was his birthright. Those were things given to him and inherited,” he said. “But this is something that he earned from his own duty and action. That’s a line in the sand.”

Weston further emphasised that taking away the medal would have “trivialised” its significance — “It’s trivialising what the medal stands for. It’s not a gift. It’s something you earn. Who he has been involved with is abhorrent… but it’s not right to take his medal away.”

Following Britain’s victory in the Falklands war, Andrew returned home a “hero”, where he was greeted by his parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. The third Mountbatten Windsor sibling had served as a Sea King helicopter co-pilot.