Queen asked to 'poke the bear', remove Harry, Andrew was Counsellors of State

Queen is advised to remove Prince Harry and Prince Andrew as Counsellors of State ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The concern comes amid how Prince Charles and Prince William would not be available in the UK for a day in March, considering their royal engagements elsewhere. Prince Charles is set to visit Ireland while Prince William has plans for the Bahamas.

Speaking to Palace Confidential, editor Richard Eden said: "Charles would be in Ireland so, obviously, he could come back in an emergency.

"But the fact is, Prince Andrew or Prince Harry, as the law stands, would have to step in and that's not right. That needs to be changed."

Mr Eden added: "We had Robert Hardman on the programme recently and he was basically arguing they don't want to cause any offence.

"They don't want to poke the bear of Prince Harry but this is beyond that. It's the law, this is serious."

Columnist Sarah Vine believes that both Prince Andrew and Prince Harry should be revoked as Counsellors of State.

She said: "You just need to take them off the rota. Take Andrew off the rota because...Andrew.

"And they need to take Harry off the rota because he's not in the country and he's not resident here even though he still got Frogmore."