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Angela Rayner called Prince Andrew a “nonce” and tried to block him from ever standing in for King Charles, according to a tell-all book on Labour’s rise to power.
The deputy prime minister reportedly fought a behind-the-scenes battle to curb the Duke of York’s influence following his downfall over ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Sunday Times published an extract from Get In: The Inside Story of Labour Under Starmer, a book by Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund, set for release on February 13.
Prince Andrew remains a counsellor of state who can deputise for the King. However, he has been stripped of other royal roles due to his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and a photo of him with then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre.
The Duke of York paid Ms Giuffre £12m to avoid a trial but denied wrongdoing and says he has no memory of meeting her.
He is now rarely seen in public and has been living a quiet life since a car crash interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019.
Ms Rayner was said to be wanting to remove Andrew as one of the counsellors of the state.
She allegedly said: “I'm not going to vote to keep that nonce on… I can't go back to my constituency and say, 'Yeah, I support that'.”
Ms Rayner had also been critical of the duke while in opposition and while an aide said she is not “anti monarchist” she has called for a need for Andrew to not represent the country.
According to the Mail, the aide added: “She was very actively reaching out to the Palace, the upper echelons of the civil service.
“And said she thought this was a huge problem, and that the Government needed to address this, and that she would offer cross-party support to make sure it happened.”
The duke claimed in the BBC interview that he ended his friendship with Epstein in December 2010 after the billionaire financier had been convicted of a child sex offence.
However, this week a probe showed he emailed Epstein in early 2011 to state: "Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon."
The duke has a long history of dubious relationships and most recently pulled out of the royals’ pre Christmas lunch after news of the Chinese spy scandal broke.
Ms Rayner’s office has been approached for comment.
The aritcle was amended at 12.25pm to state it was The Sunday Times and not the Mail that published the extract.
