
Piers Morgan invited a panel of guests, including Andrew Mountbatten-Windor's former flame Lady Victoria Hervey, onto his latest TalkTV show to discuss how the former Duke of York and ex Labour politician Peter Mandelson had been arrested. During the broadcast, Piers referred to the former prince by his first name and the former European Commissioner for Trade by his surname. Victoria interjected as Piers was speaking to say: "Just call him Prince Andrew because the Mountbatten thing is way too long." Piers looked baffled and clarified: "Well, he's not Prince Andrew anymore, so let's call him Mountbatten-Windsor."
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Victoria, who briefly dated Andrew in 1999, then chimed in: "Well, he will always be Prince Andrew," to which Piers replied: "Well, he won't always be Prince Andrew because he is no longer Prince Andrew - that's the point."
However, the socialite wasn't interested in Piers' explanation and asked the TalkTV star directly for his real name, as she claimed it wasn't Piers Morgan.
Piers explained that his full surname is Pughe-Morgan, but he dropped the double-barrelled name when he became a journalist, as he got more bylines in print without it. However, his full name remains on his passport.
When a frustrated Piers told Victoria that Andrew had "literally had the word Prince removed from his title", she clapped back: "He was born with that name."
As the debate heated up while the other guests sat back in silence, Piers shouted: "It doesn't matter, he's no longer a prince. You may want him to be, but he's not a prince."
Andrew and Mandelson were both arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Andrew was arrested on his 66th birthday last Thursday, while Mandelson was arrested by the Metropolitan Police this Monday.
Andrew was released under investigation, and the Labour peer was released on bail.
King Charles said in a statement following his brother's arrest: "Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all."