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Prince Andrew could be set to lose his round-the-clock armed guard, according to reports.

The Evening Standard says the Home Office has recommended that the Duke of York's security is downgraded.

It follows Andrew's enforced retirement following a disastrous BBC interview about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

A final decision will be reached by Home Secretary Priti Patel and the Prime Minister, the Standard reports.

A source told the newspaper: “Those in charge of royal security cannot write a blank cheque for anyone who does not have a public role for the foreseeable future.

"Round-the-clock armed protection is very expensive.

"The Met is obliged to review the position to ensure it is justified.”

(Image: Collect Unknown)

It comes just days after the Met Police refused to reveal the movement of the prince's bodyguards on the day he is accused of having sex with a teenager who said she was trafficked by Epstein.

Prince Andrew infamously claimed he was at Pizza Express in Woking, Surrey, on March 10, 2001 - the day he's accused of having sex with Virginia Roberts, now Virginia Giuffre, in London.

Virginia, who was 17 at the time, says she was trafficked by the prince's paedophile billionaire pal, Jeffrey Epstein.

Mirror Online submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking for details of his police bodyguards' movements on that day - but the Met has knocked it back, claiming the information could put national security at risk and aid criminals.

(Image: Tom Main)

The Met's decision has been branded "daft" by a security expert, and an anti-monarchy campaigner branded the explanation "nonsense".

The 59-year-old may be forced to pay for armed police himself if he wants the protection to continue, it is reported.

The cost of protecting the royal family is believed to be around £100 million per year.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We do not comment on individual security arrangements.”

The Duke of York is currently given armed protection by the Metropolitan Police.

Back in 1971, he was said to have been the target of an IRA kidnapping plot.

In a BBC Newsnight interview in November, Andrew claimed he was at a Pizza Express in Woking on one day he was said to have had sex with the teenager, and said that he had also lost the ability to sweat due to coming under fire in the Falklands War.

He admitted staying in Epstein's mansion for three days in 2010, after Epstein's conviction for sex offences against a minor.