Andrew invited to relinquish Freedom of City

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been invited by councillors to relinquish his inherited Freedom of the City of London.

The disgraced former prince received the honour in 2012 "by virtue of patrimony", due to his father Prince Philip having been a Freeman.

Despite calls for the title to be removed, the City of London Corporation (CLC) previously said the honour, which historically allowed its recipients to walk sheep over London Bridge with no tariff, cannot be taken back.

A CLC spokesperson said: "Elected members have today agreed to write to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, inviting him to formally relinquish the Freedom."

The CLC said it "will consider the response received, if any, at a future meeting and determine what action may be taken".

"Applications via patrimony are not considered or endorsed by our elected members, and there is no effective legal mechanism to remove this type of Freedom," the spokesperson added.

Sir Lenny Henry and Cate Blanchett are among those to have received the honour.

The former prince was stripped of his royal titles, styles and honours by King Charles last year after further details of his relationship with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein came to light.

In February Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office after correspondence in the Epstein Files suggested he may have passed on sensitive trade information, and was released under investigation after spending 11 hours in custody.

He has denied any wrongdoing.

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