ANGELA Rayner has refused to deny referring to Prince Andrew as "that nonce".
The quote comes from a new book, Get In: Labour Under Keir Starmer, which details the party's reinvention under its incumbent leader.
The book claims she used the phrase when referring to the disgraced royal during the development of the Line of Succession Bill.
Asked about the claim, Rayner told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg : “I’m not making any comment on what somebody suggests was said in a book, or actually the private conversations that I did have during the passage of the bill, which did get passed, and I did pass the bill, and I wholeheartedly supported the government at the time in passing the Line of Succession Bill through parliament.”
Prince Andrew has become a toxic figure for the royals due to his links to the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The Duke has denied any wrongdoing.
Elsewhere, the book on Starmer also claims that Rayner said that the Prime Minister is “incapable of running a bath”, which she dismissed as “tittle tattle”.
She explained: “Me and Keir don’t always agree on everything, but the one thing I will say about him is he won’t do what he thinks is popular.
“There’s a lot of things that were said in that book that I don’t recognise, to be honest, and it’s tittle-tattle. So I don’t recognise what was said in that book."
She added: “There was lots of other things that people have said about me or anyone else, and no, I don’t recognise ever saying that to anybody, but we all have frustrations when we’re at work sometimes."
It comes after reports that a school named after the Duke of York is set to be rebranded to something less “controversial”.
Prince Andrew School – the only secondary school on the remote British overseas territory of St Helena – is asking its students to suggest something more “neutral”.
The decision stems from “recent public controversy” and “negative media coverage”, a statement from the government of St Helena said.
Buckingham Palace was informed of the move, it is understood.
