Residents in a neighbourhood in Telford, Shropshire, believe that ‘Prince Andrew’ should be removed from their street’s name amid sex allegations against the Duke of York - saying ‘it’s not right’ that it’s named after him.
Virginia Giuffre is suing Prince Andrew for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.
She claims she was trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with Andrew when she was aged 17 - a minor under US law. The royal, who was friends with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, has strongly denied the allegations.
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Now residents living on Prince Andrew Drive in Malinslee are considering asking council bosses to re-name their road, with one admitting: “I wouldn’t mind seeing the back of that name.”
The unnamed resident continued: “There’s another street near here called Sussex Close. I wouldn’t want to live there either!
“It needs to have a royal connection. Maybe they could name it after Prince George, Princess Charlotte or Prince Louis.”
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He added: “Everybody deserves a fair trial. It seems as though Prince Andrew has had trial by media.”
Another, who was also unnamed, said she may write to Telford and Wrekin Council to request the name goes.
“We think it should change,” she said.
“We’ve been thinking about writing to them. It’s not right that it’s named after him.”
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However, not all residents agree that the street name should change – arguing that you shouldn’t ‘rewrite history’.
Terry and Kim Beech believe it should stay, saying no one has raised any eyebrows when they’ve told people their address for official documents.
Terry said: “I don’t think you can change it. You can’t keep rewriting history. It doesn’t really bother me. It’s always been Prince Andrew Drive. We don’t agree with what he might have done, but you can’t keep changing things.
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"You can’t erase history. He’s still part of the royal family."
When asked whether or not they would move into a house in a street named after somebody notorious, Kim replied: “You wouldn’t go and find a house on Jimmy Savile Street. I find the names of some of the new streets a bit ridiculous.”
Another resident, Josie Hunting, also isn’t so keen on the name changing.
“I don’t think it makes any difference,” she said.
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“I’ve lived here a long time and it’s always been Prince Andrew Drive. I couldn’t be doing with the hassle of changing my address on everything.”
Another neighbour, meanwhile, suggested that the street should be renamed after one of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children to be in keeping with the royal theme of street names on the estate.
Elsewhere, residents in Fort William, Scotland, also called for a street to be renamed from Earl of Inverness Road, due to its link to Prince Andrew.
Over in Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, DUP figures have called for several streets bearing Prince Andrew’s name to be changed.
Even further afield, in Nova Scotia, Canada, Prince Andrew High School announced plans for its name to be changed.
LADbible has contacted Telford and Wrekin Council for comment.
Topics: UK News
Jess Hardiman