Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor fought in the Falklands War but plaques in his honor have been removed from the British territory.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor—formerly Prince Andrew—has been erased from plaques at public buildings in the Falkland Islands, an overseas British territory which he helped defend against military invasion.
Argentina invaded the Falklands in 1982 and Andrew served as a helicopter co-pilot during the war in which Britain recaptured the islands. The tour of duty made Andrew a hero in the eyes of British people and came long before the Jeffrey Epstein scandal destroyed his reputation. In the years that followed the war, Andrew visited the islands again several times to officially open a number of buildings, with plaques going up to mark the occasion. While the plaques were not specifically war memorials, Andrew’s role in opening those buildings recognized his status as a Falklands War hero. Now, according to British newspaper the Daily Mirror, those plaques have been removed from buildings across the islands due to Andrew’s connection with Epstein. Newsweek has contacted Andrew for comment via representatives. Andrew, then prince, marches with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, the division he served in, at a parade, in London, commemorating 25 years since the end of the Falklands War on June 17, 2007. Why It Matters Andrew was accused of rape in a New York civil case in 2021 brought by the late Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked at the age of 17 to London, New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands and made to have sex with Andrew by Epstein and Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. He has always denied the allegations and settled out of court in 2022 for an undisclosed sum while denying liability. Giuffre died in April in what her family said was a suicide. Emails from Epstein’s estate, newly released by the House Oversight Committee, have placed greater pressure on Andrew, including one in which the disgraced financier appeared to confirm the authenticity of a famous photo of Andrew with his arm around Giuffre. On October 30, King Charles III stripped Andrew of his royal titles, including both his “prince” title and “Duke of York,” though he remains in the line of succession. What To Know Among the plaques the Mirror says were removed is one from Mount Pleasant Airport, opened by Andrew in 1985 after being built at a cost of £300 million. In 2002, he opened a new block at the Infant Junior School, in the capital Stanley, but this too has been removed along with another at Falklands Conservation. Not all decisions have been recent. Falklands KEMH Hospital took down a tablet with Andrew’s name in 2022 after he settled with Giuffre. At the time, John Birmingham, a Falklands MP, said: “Renovation work is underway, and given that the prince is retiring from public life, the plaque bearing his name will be given to the Falklands Museum.” Andrew first stepped back as a working royal in November 2019 following a car crash interview with the BBC. What People Are Saying Falklands resident Kaylee Smith, 33, told the Mirror: “Andrew has rightfully been stripped of his titles and plaques—he has brought shame upon his family and the country he once represented.” King Charles III said in an October 30 statement: “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles and honors of Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. “Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation. These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him. “Their majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.” Andrew reflected on his time as a helicopter co-pilot in the Falklands War in a public statement posted on ex-wife Sarah Ferguson’s Instagram account in 2022: “I was flying and saw a chaff shell fired from one of our ships that passed not that far in front of us. For a moment it was on a steady bearing before it began to cross to our left. “The terror that that was going to be that, just for a moment, has had a lasting and permanent effect on me. “We then had to put that to one side and get on with the search-and-rescue mission to recover and find men in the water after Conveyor was hit and burning.” In a 2019 BBC Newsnight interview intended to clear his name, he referenced his military service to argue Virginia Giuffre’s account of him sweating profusely when they met could not have been true: “There’s a slight problem with the sweating because I have a peculiar medical condition which is that I don’t sw...
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