“We are changing the name to move in a different direction because of the negative reports about Prince Andrew,” school principal Craig Campbell told DailyExpertNews in an email. “We hope to build our identity as a positive, supportive school community with a name to match.”
Local residents will have the opportunity to submit name suggestions to a six-member renaming committee made up of students, staff and community members. The top three names will then be recommended to the Halifax Regional Center for Education, which will receive final approval.
The school’s decision follows a New York judge’s ruling earlier this month that Prince Andrew can continue a civil lawsuit.
The 61-year-old royal is being sued by Virginia Giuffre, who alleges she was trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and forced to engage in sexual acts with the prince at the age of 17. Prince Andrew has vehemently denied those claims.
The allegations against the prince have tarnished his public status and prompted other members of the royal family to distance themselves from the Duke of York.
Most recently, Prince Andrew was stripped of his military honors and charitable trusts. A royal source confirmed to DailyExpertNews’s Max Foster Prince Andrew that he will no longer be using the “His Royal Highness” style in an official capacity either.
The Canadian school joins a long list of institutions that have decided in recent years to cut ties with controversial namesakes.
Across the United States, school boards and districts have chosen to find new names for schools named after Confederate leaders or other public figures, such as actor Bill Cosby, who saw his name removed from buildings, workplaces and a professorship as a criminal proceedings against he unfolded.
