Australian PM Albanese supports UK plan to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession, with New Zealand also indicating its backing.

LONDON/SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has formally backed plans to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession to the British throne.

In a letter to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Albanese said his government would agree to any proposal to remove King Charles’s younger brother from the succession.

The British government is considering legislation to ensure Mountbatten-Windsor, currently eighth in line, could never be king following his arrest as part of a police investigation into his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

READ MORE: King Charles faces fresh crisis as brother Andrew arrested

King Charles last year stripped his brother of his title of prince and forced him out of his Windsor home.

Any changes to the succession must be approved not just in Britain but also in the other Commonwealth realms where Charles is monarch.

“I agree with His Majesty that the law must now take its full course and there must be a full, fair and proper investigation,” Albanese’s letter stated.

Speaking to ABC Radio, Albanese said Australians did not regard Mountbatten-Windsor as an appropriate figure to remain in the line of succession to be Australia’s head of state.

“I certainly do (want him removed) and I think Australians will as well. These are very serious allegations,” Albanese said.

The British monarch is the largely ceremonial head of state in Australia, New Zealand and 12 other Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s office said his government would also support any proposal to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the order of succession.

The last change to the line of succession came in 2013, when a law was passed to end a 300-year-old system that gave precedence to male heirs.

The British government has said any change would follow the completion of a police investigation.

Officers are searching Mountbatten-Windsor’s former mansion in Windsor as part of an investigation into whether he committed misconduct in a public office during his time as a government trade envoy.

Other allegations relating to Epstein are also being considered by various British police forces.

Mountbatten-Windsor has made no public comment since the mass release of documents by the U.S. government linked to Epstein last month.

He has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to the late financier.

 The Sun Malaysia