Plaque marking Prince Andrew’s visit to Sleaford school has been removed

The commemorative plaque was unveiled by the prince on November 3, 1997 to mark the opening of a new four classroom block at William Alvey School when he flew in by helicopter.

This week The Duke of York is facing a renewed call to give up one of his last remaining major titles after agreeing to settle the civil sex assault claim against him for what is widely reported to be a multimillion-pound sum.

William Alvey School headteacher Stephen Tapley says the plaque has been taken down as part of a redecorating programme and will not be put up again - as he has promptly lost it!

He said: “Although we like to celebrate the history and traditions of our school, and we have many, we also want to make sure our role models really demonstrate our four school values of respect, aspiration, tolerance and resilience. “We have just renovated our air raid shelter and we have decided to replace the Prince Andrew plaque with one celebrating the life of our former headteacher, Mary Beavis, who served as a VAD nurse during the First World War and was awarded a ‘sliver brooch’ during the Second World War for her work evacuating children to the shelter during the air raids over Sleaford.

“Although it was a day to remember when he (Prince Andrew) visited the school, I think with Andrew’s current difficulties, Mary will be a much more appropriate role model for our children.”

Andrew, whose status as a member of the royal family was left in tatters last month after the Queen stripped him of his honorary military roles and he gave up his HRH style, has been urged to show “respect” by now losing his dukedom. Labour’s MP for York Central Rachael Maskell said his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein had caused ‘deep hurt’ to residents and called for him to show respect for those affected by abuse.

The royal agreed on February 15 to make a “substantial donation” to his accuser Virginia Giuffre’s charity after the pair agreed an undisclosed out-of-court settlement in her civil sex claim against him.

Ms Giuffre, also known as Virginia Roberts, made a claim against Andrew for damages in her home country of the US, claiming she was trafficked by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew’s friend, to have sex with the royal when she was 17, a minor under US law.

Although the parties have settled the case, the agreement is not an admission of guilt from the duke and he has always strenuously denied the allegations against him.

Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on Tuesday’s legal development, while Andrew’s representatives also declined to say how the donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity would be funded.

In January, Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew would be defending the case “as a private citizen”.