Plaques celebrating previous incidences of royal ribbon cutting on the premises are a feature of many British institutions. Now, however, a Belfast hospital has been left with an empty space on its wall after a tablet marking Prince Andrew’s role in formally opening Belfast City Hospital in 1986 was ripped off the wall by disgruntled staff after Andrew was accused of sexual assault in a U.S. courtroom.
Despite an internal investigation which not only recovered the plaque but also identified and “disciplined” the staff responsible, the plaque has been left in storage rather than being reinstated.
Belfast lawmaker Colin McGrath told the BBC it was “outrageous” that staff had been disciplined for removing the plaque saying they had done the hospital “a favor” adding, “Either back your staff or back a commemorative display for Prince Andrew. I know which side I would be on.”
One group of people who will be looking enviously at Belfast City Hospital’s simple solution to their Prince Andrew problem are those citizens of the British city of York who have said they would prefer their town’s good name wasn’t connected with an alleged sexual predator.
In 2022, York lawmaker Rachael Maskell sought to have Andrew stripped of the title “Duke of York” after polls showed that 80 percent of the city’s citizens wanted to be freed of their link with the shamed royal. Andrew was given the title as a wedding present from the queen in 1986 and has retained it.
Andrew paid a reputed $14 million to settle with Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who claimed Andrew raped her three times when she was a teenager. A new Amazon film about Andrew, A Very Royal Scandal, is due to be released next week.
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