Hospital staff ‘disciplined’ for removing plaque as it had Prince Andrew’s name on it

Staff at Belfast City Hospital have faced disciplinary action after a plaque commemorating the facility’s opening by Prince Andrew was taken down without official permission.

This came amid heightened controversy surrounding the Duke of York due to legal allegations in the United States.

The plaque, which was installed after Prince Andrew inaugurated the hospital’s tower in June 1986, disappeared in January 2022. Its removal coincided with civil litigation against the Duke in the US, where Virginia Giuffre accused him of sexual assault, claims the prince has consistently denied.

Health officials launched an internal investigation following the plaque’s disappearance, revealing that it had been removed without proper authorization.

Emails confirm that hospital staff involved in the incident were "disciplined" as part of an official inquiry into the matter, the BBCreports.

The plaque, which was positioned near the hospital’s front entrance, became a subject of sensitivity after Prince Andrew faced civil action over allegations that he assaulted Ms. Giuffre in 2001, when she was 17. Although the case was settled out of court without an admission of liability, the Duke agreed to a settlement payment.

This legal action prompted calls for Prince Andrew to step back from his public duties, leading to the return of his military titles and royal patronages to Queen Elizabeth II. The removal of the plaque occurred shortly after this period of intense scrutiny on the Duke.

According to documents obtained by BBC News NI, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust conducted a "significant event audit" to investigate the plaque’s disappearance. The inquiry lasted several months and included an external review by independent consultants.

A senior staff member in an email mentioned that the removal appeared to be driven by “sensitivities arising from allegations circulating on national media at the time.”

The Trust eventually located the missing plaque, but questions surrounding the actions of hospital staff have sparked heated debate. The Trust has not yet decided whether the plaque will be reinstalled.

A spokesperson for Belfast Trust said that "staff behaviours" had been addressed "in accordance with trust disciplinary procedures," but they declined to provide further details on the exact nature of the actions taken.

Some political figures in Northern Ireland have condemned the decision to discipline staff.

Colin McGrath, the SDLPhealth spokesperson, said: “It’s outrageous to discipline staff over this. If anything, they did the Trust a favor by removing the plaque. Either back your staff or back a commemorative display for Prince Andrew. I know which side I would be on.”

Gerry Carroll, an assembly member for People Before Profit, echoed these sentiments, stating that a plaque bearing Prince Andrew’s name “should not exist” at a public hospital.

“Workers in the hospital shouldn’t be reprimanded for opposing this”, he added.

The Trust confirmed that the plaque has since been recovered and remains in storage, though its future is uncertain.

“A thorough investigation was carried out, and action was taken to address staff behaviours,” a Trust spokesperson reiterated. “No decision has been made regarding the plaque’s reinstatement.”

The controversy surrounding the plaque comes at a time when renewed attention has been placed on Prince Andrew’s controversial public life, with multiple dramatizations of his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview making waves in the media.

The infamous interview, in which the Duke of York discussed his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been widely regarded as a major public relations disaster for the prince.