New Zealand would support the United Kingdom’s decision to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession should it move to.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon confirmed New Zealand’s stance.
“If the UK Government proposes to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the order of succession, New Zealand would support it. The UK government has said any proposals would come after the police investigation concludes,” the statement said.
Speaking to media after, Luxon said the government had been in contact with the UK Cabinet office over the last week.
He said all options were on the table for their counterparts, but New Zealand would back his removal.
“The bottom line is no one is above the law and once that investigation is closed, should the UK government decide to remove him from the line of succession, that is something we would support.”
It comes after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote to British counterpart Keir Starmer to confirm his country’s support of removal.
Luxon said he had already made his views clear to the UK government before the Albanese’s letter came to light.
“Our Cabinet office talks to their Cabinet office and we have conversations all the time … our position is well understood and I’m telling you what our position is now.”
Luxon said their position was the same as Australia and it was “very clear”, that New Zealand would support the UK’s decision.
He said “no one was above the law”.
Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his titles by King Charles III last year and hasn’t worked as a member of the royal family since 2019 over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, pictured at Windsor Castle in April 2025, was arrested on Thursday.
Photo: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
However, he remained eighth in line to the throne.
The British government was considering passing a law to divest Mountbatten-Windsor of his succession rights after he was arrested by police last week, a UK official said.
Earlier on Tuesday, deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said his focus was on issues Kiwis faced.
Seymour told First Up he wouldn’t be drawn into whether New Zealand would back the move, with more pressing priorities back home.
“I think we’ve got 99 problems most New Zealanders are facing right now,” he said.
“This guy’s eighth in the line of succession, and these guys all seem to live to about 100.
“So, of all of the things that you could ask me about or we could be worried about right now, that’s probably a wee way down the list.”
Seymour said Australia had “obviously solved a few more problems” when quizzed if New Zealand had considered their position on the issue.
Good on them, he said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.