Residents Seek Name Change for Prince Andrew Streets
Residents of a street named after Prince Andrew, the former Duke of York, are expressing their desire to remove his name due to his controversial past linked to Jeffrey Epstein. The names Prince Andrew Road and Prince Andrew Close in Maidenhead are at the center of this appeal to local officials.
Tom Kirk, a resident of Prince Andrew Road, shared that the association is quite embarrassing. He mentioned, “Whenever I talk to someone, order something, or tell someone where I live, I always frown.” He noted that the street’s name doesn’t align with the community’s values—the ideals of integrity, equality, and respect seem distant from what it represents now.
Kirk, who moved to the area earlier this year with his partner and young son, reached out to the Royal Borough of Windsor-Maidenhead to initiate the street renaming process. He highlighted that the street was named after Andrew, who was born in 1960 and recently lost his royal titles amid serious allegations.
Those allegations involve Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, who claimed in her posthumous memoir that she was forced to engage in sexual encounters with Andrew when she was just 17 years old. The situation has undoubtedly cast a shadow over the name associated with the street.
Another anonymous resident added, “Some might say there are a lot of bad men and women in the world who have buildings named after them. They haven’t been altered or destroyed. But why not explore them if you can?”
Officials from Windsor and Maidenhead have noted that any applications for name changes will be processed according to the council’s regulations. However, since the roads have numerous homes, all property owners must agree to the changes, which may pose a challenge. Some older residents expressed concerns that altering the street name could be too inconvenient at their age.
John Stamp, a 93-year-old resident of Prince Andrew Road, reflected on the potential disruption, saying, “I think about the hundreds of people, friends, and neighbors who have had to change their addresses. At my age, that’s too much.”
Buckingham Palace has not yet provided a comment on the matter.
