Queen Elizabeth bestows top honour on Andrew

Britain's Prince Andrew has been awarded him the Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order by his mother Queen Elizabeth.

The embattled prince - who has been the focus of a sacking campaign from his position as trade envoy because of his business dealings with US billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and Libyan arms smuggler Tarek Kaituni - has been given the honour, which is entirely the decision of the queen to give, in an investiture at Windsor Castle.

Although not done officially as a response to criticism, it is being seen by many as Queen Elizabeth sending a message to his critics that Andrew has her full confidence.

However, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said: "She decided this was the right time to do it."

The Knight Grand Cross is the highest of six grades of the Royal Victoria Order, created by Queen Victoria in 1896.

Former head of the Foreign Office's Middle East section Stephen Day recently called for Prince Andrew to be sacked in his role as envoy for UK Trade & Investment.

He said: "It takes a lot to bring former British Ambassadors to criticise a member of the royal family in public but it is surely now recognised that the Duke's activities are doing such serious damage to the royal family itself and to Britain's political, diplomatic and commercial interests that an entirely new role should be found for him as soon as possible."