City Centre street name must be changed, says mayor of Mississauga

England’s former Duke of York and brother to the King has lost many royal and military titles, duties and privileges to date — and if Mississauga’s mayor has her way, the disgraced former prince, Andrew, will no longer be symbolically linked to Canada’s seventh-largest city.

Duke of York Boulevard, located just east of both city hall and the Living Arts Centre, was named for the former prince and duke shortly after he and his wife at the time, Sarah Ferguson, visited the city on July 18, 1987 to help with the official opening of the Mississauga Civic Centre (city hall).

Now, nearly four decades and a number of sex-related allegations and controversies later, talk of changing the name of Duke of York Boulevard has again surfaced at Mississauga city council.

Mayor Carolyn Parrish raised the matter on Wednesday during public discussion among councillors related to the naming of City of Mississauga buildings, streets and other assets.

The mayor said she’d like to see Duke of York Boulevard changed, simply, to York Boulevard in order to disassociate the north-south City Centre street — and Mississauga — with the former prince and duke, who this week was officially stripped of his princehood.

He had earlier lost the royal title Duke of York and was stripped of his royal duties and military titles back in 2022 amid allegations he sexually abused a woman on several occasions in 2001, when she was 17.

One week ago, Buckingham Palace announced the process of removing Andrew’s “style, titles and honours” had been initiated in the latest fallout from his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019.

Today, the 65-year-old brother of King Charles III and son of the late Queen Elizabeth II is known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. In addition to losing the array of royal and military titles, and other privileges, Andrew was also tossed out of his former 30-room home, Royal Lodge, a week ago.

In suggesting the name of the Mississauga boulevard be changed, Parrish said this week the allegations and issues surrounding Andrew “… are quite obvious and I think more are coming out, so I’d like us to get our heads around that and talk to the right people to see if we can change that one.”

Back in 2022, shortly after Andrew had his royal duties and military titles taken from him, Mississauga city councillors at the time spoke about changing the Duke of York Boulevard name. However, nothing came of that discussion.

Duke of York Boulevard runs from Webb Drive, just south of Burnhamthorpe Road West, north to Centre View Drive to the immediate south of Highway 403.

View from above of Duke of York Boulevard in Mississauga’s City Centre area.