Andrew is also preceded by his ex-wife
Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, also lost her right to be styled as Her Royal Highness after her divorce was finalised in 1996. But Sarah had already been ousted from the royal family long before that. After the ‘toe-sucking scandal’ of 1992 she was no longer treated as a working royal, according to Express.
Even the sovereign can be fired
Apart from King Edward, Princess Diana, Sarah, Duchess of York, and now Prince Andrew, history is replete with royal ousters, including those in which the king or queen is deposed, or forced to step down. The following are some the more well-known examples.
Edward V: just 13 when he ascended, he was kidnapped and murdered at the Tower of London, along with his brother, Richard, in 1483.
Lady Jane Grey: queen for only nine days in 1533, she was deposed by (and later beheaded on the orders of) the half-sister of her predecessor, Edward VI, who became Queen Mary (aka Bloody Mary), whose own ‘firing’ is discussed below.
Charles I: tried and convicted of treason, he was beheaded on January 30, 1649.
Thankfully, royal firings are a lot less extreme these days.
Other famous royal ousters
The monarchy may seem prim and proper in the 21st century, but it has a sordid past. Between betrayals and beheadings, the royals of yore weren’t all that demure when they wanted someone out.
Queen Mary I: before Queen ‘Bloody’ Mary took the throne from Lady Jane Grey, this daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon had been ‘fired’ from the line of succession twice – once by her father, who declared her illegitimate, and the second time by her half-brother, Edward VI, who knew he was dying and didn’t want the crown to pass to Mary, who was Catholic.
Queen Elizabeth I: like her sister Mary, Elizabeth I was declared illegitimate by her father and removed from the line of succession. She was reinstated into the line seven years later and became Queen Elizabeth I upon the death of Queen Mary.
Mary, Queen of Scots: Mary, who had been the Queen of Scotland practically from birth, was forced to abdicate in 1567 in favour of her son, when she was accused of conspiring with her lover to kill her husband, Lord Darnley.
Four of the wives of Henry VIII: four other famous royal ousters concern not the sovereign, himself, but his wives: Catherine of Aragon, whose marriage was annulled after she failed to produce a male heir and Henry wanted to marry Anne Boleyn; Anne Boleyn, who was executed for treason when Henry tired of her; Anne of Cleves, who wasn’t as attractive as Henry had hoped and whose marriage was annulled; and Kathryn Howard, who was executed after being unfaithful to Henry.
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Source: RD.com
