This is the moment the Have I Got News For You audience applauded Andrew losing his Prince title as the show was halted for the announcement.
On Thursday night, King Charles III stripped his brother of his titles and announced Andrew would be leaving his home at Royal Lodge after paying ‘a peppercorn rent’ for decades.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor – as he will now be known – has for many years been dogged by allegations he sexually abused Virginia Giuffre after she was trafficked by Epstein, which he strenuously denies.
The breaking news was reported as this week’s episode of Have I Got News For You was being filmed and the producer, unsurprisingly, took the decision to halt the show to pass on the news to this week’s host Jason Manford.
Mr Manford was appearing on the political satire show alongside regular panelists Paul Merton and Ian Hislop as well as fellow guests, comedian Laura Smyth and former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh.
‘This is the news that Andrew is no longer a Prince,’ Mr Manford announced to thunderous applause and cheers from the audience.
In reply, Mr Merton quipped: ‘The bad news is he’s become to King.’
The audience had a similar reaction when the live broadcast of Question Time was interrupted for the breaking news.
The breaking news was reported as this week’s episode of Have I Got News For You was being filmed and the producer, unsurprisingly, took the decision to halt the show to pass on the news to this week’s host Jason Manford
Mr Manford was appearing on the political satire show alongside regular panelists Paul Merton and Ian Hislop as well as fellow guests comedian Laura Smyth and former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh
Crowds at the BBC show in Bradford reacted in delight after presenter Fiona Bruce revealed that the King’s brother will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
Further gleeful clapping could be heard after she announced the 65-year-old, who on Thursday was ranked the most unpopular royal ever, would lose his lease on Royal Lodge and be forced to find his own private accommodation.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, speaking on the show, said removing Andrew’s titles is a ‘really brave, important and right step’ by the King, and sends a ‘powerful message’ to sex abuse victims.
‘Obviously this is a huge development and a big step for the King to take.
‘I have to say, just, you know, as an initial response, I really support the step that he’s taken.
‘I think [it’s] a very powerful message to the victims of grooming and sex offences. I used to work with children who’d been abused before I came into Parliament, including many of the girls who’d been horrifically abused by grooming gangs.
‘I read some of the testimony from some of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, not just at the time, but recently, with news stories that have come to light.
‘And I think, you know, given the new information that we have, I think this is a really brave, important and right step by the King, and I fully support it.’
On Thursday night, King Charles III stripped his brother Andrew of his titles and announced he would be leaving his home at Royal Lodge after paying ‘a peppercorn rent’ for decades
The bombshell decision came as a new poll revealed the number of Brits with a negative opinion of Andrew had skyrocketed to the highest ever level recorded for a royal.
The deeply unpopular ex-prince has seen his approval ranking drop to a mere four per cent amid his involvement with Virginia Giuffre, a YouGov polled released on Thursday shows.
The royal, who has formally been stripped of his prince title, is viewed unfavourably by a staggering 91 per cent of the population, an increase from 87 per cent in August.
Elsewhere, on this week’s edition of HIGNFY, Ms Haigh launched a thinly-veiled attack on Sir Keir Starmer for treating Rachel Reeves differently.
The former Cabinet Minister, who had to quit as Transport Secretary last year over a previous fraud conviction, contrasted her treatment with how the Chancellor had been let off with an apology over renting out her family home without a licence.
Ms Haigh insisted Ms Reeves ‘had made a mistake’ but said the Prime Minister ‘was absolutely right’ to accept Ms Reeves’ apology as ‘she’s been exonerated’.
However, when asked by Mr Hislop whether that meant people generally ‘who make mistakes should be exonerated’, she appeared to draw a sharp distinction between her fate and Sir Keir’s lenient approach to his Chancellor.
To laughter from the audience, Ms Haigh pointedly replied: ‘Well, the PM was equally magnanimous with me which is why I’m really delighted I’m still serving as Transport Secretary.’
She also re-opened a previous row with Number 10 by insisting that the PM had known about her conviction in 2014 for making a false report to police over an allegedly stolen mobile phone when he appointed her to the Shadow Cabinet in 2020.
Number 10 had insisted that the PM only accepted her resignation after ‘further information’ emerged.
But when asked whether Sir Keir ‘was lying’, Ms Haigh replied: ‘Well, he never told me what the further information was.’
At the time, supporters of Ms Haigh claimed she was the victim of a ‘political hit job’ by Number 10 for pushing a left-wing agenda.
The Daily Mail revealed last week that Ms Reeves had broken the law by failing to obtain a licence for letting her family home in Dulwich, south London, after she moved into accommodation in Downing Street provided for the Chancellor and her family after the General Election.
