King Charles allows Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to keep his war medals

As the King continues to add to Andrew Windsor’s humiliation by stripping his titles and booting him out of his home, debate is raging over one thing Charles has allowed his younger brother to keep.

The former Prince Andrew is set to have his honorary rank as vice admiral in the Royal Navy removed, but the King has decided to allow him to keep the medals he earned while serving in the British armed forces.

Andrew served 22 years in the Royal Navy, notably fighting in the Falklands War, and public opinion has been divided on the decision to take away his military honours.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey has confirmed that although Andrew’s “last remaining title” had been removed, the government would follow the King’s lead and allow the medals to stand after Buckingham Palace confirmed the decision to allow Andrew to keep them.

Following an announcement from the place on October 30 that Andrew would lose his titles and access to his current residence, the 65-year-old is now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.

The announcement that Andrew would lose all of his royal entitlements and basically be retired from the public eye has comes after intense public scrutiny over his rumoured involvement with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, allegations that he denies.

“We need to get hold of our moral compass,” Simon Weston, a Falklands veteran who was severely burned when his troop was attacked during the conflict, told The Telegraph.

“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.”

“But this is something that he earned from his own duty and action. That’s a line in the sand,” Weston added.

Andrew was just 22 years old when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a territory of the United Kingdom. He served as a Sea King helicopter co-pilot during the conflict, which lasted just over two months.

Despite the fact that he had only been with the 820 Naval Air Squadron for nine weeks when the war began, the former prince helped carry out anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, casualty evacuation and search and rescue missions.

Weston called for Andrew to have the same consideration as veterans who have committed crimes and have not had their medals taken away.

“It’s trivialising what the medal stands for. It’s not a gift. It’s something you earn,” Weston said.

“Who he has been involved with is abhorrent ... but it’s not right to take his medal away.”