He’s not a working Royal. So, critics ask… Why is Prince Andrew using a £100,000 Range Rover with police lights for a glitzy Mayfair lunch?

Prince Andrew is at the center of a new row over his use of a special Royal Range Rover fitted with blue emergency lights despite no longer having police protection, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The Duke of York – who was banned from royal duties over his friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein – is enjoying the benefit of the £100,000 4X4 for horse riding in Windsor and lunch at Harry’s Bar, a glitzy private club in Mayfair.

Critics are baffled that the 64-year-old continues to receive privileges despite his fall from grace.

He has been photographed driving the vehicle in Windsor and central London, and is often followed by his private security guards in a £60,000 Land Rover Discovery.

The Range Rover is assigned to the Duke and is fitted with police lights, while the ‘back-up’ Land Rover is fitted with amber hazard lights as part of a fleet leased by the Royal Family.

Prince Andrew is spotted leaving Harry’s Bar Members Club on a rare outing in London. The Duke of York takes advantage of a £100,000 4X4 for horse riding in Windsor and lunch at Harry’s Bar, a glitzy private club in Mayfair

It is illegal for the public to fit blue lights to their cars, but all members of the Royal Family have a special dispensation so the vehicles can be used on official engagements and police convoys.

However, because the beleaguered Andrew is no longer a working Royal, there are few scenarios – apart from state funerals or coronations – in which he or his private security team would be allowed to use the lights.

It’s clear the blue lights in Andrew’s Range Rover were never turned on.

The special treatment has raised eyebrows at Scotland Yard, where sources questioned why ‘this vehicle, equipped with emergency equipment, is being driven’.

Nazir Afzal OBE, former chief prosecutor, told the MoS: ‘There is no justification for Andrew having these blue lights. The vehicle must be withdrawn.

“It is highly inappropriate, suggests arrogance and sends the message that he is entitled to services that the average citizen would not be entitled to.

‘There needs to be a review so that only working Royals should have access to this privilege.’

Dai Davies, former head of royalty protection at Scotland Yard, added: ‘Andrew does not need or guarantee these blue lights in the current circumstances. The only reason for this would be because his threat level changes and his police protection is reintroduced.”

Prince Andrew during his 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis. Andrew was forced to step down from royal duties in late 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

Nazir Afzal OBE (pictured), a former chief prosecutor, told the MoS: ‘There is no justification for Andrew having these blue lights. The vehicle must be withdrawn

Royal author Margaret Holder said: ‘There is no point in Andrew having these blue lights other than allowing him to retain a special privilege and status symbol.

‘When his beloved mother died, Charles got everything and Andrew got the corgis. He’s clinging to one of the last bits of prestige he can have.” Sources close to the Duke say the cars are not taxpayer funded and Andrew is still a senior Royal as the King’s brother.

But his striking car contrasts with the demure Zara Tindall, the king’s niece, who was recently photographed in a simple Hyundai Tucson, splattered with mud and bird droppings.

Prince Andrew was stripped of his honor and taxpayer-funded armed police guards at the end of 2022, which previously cost the public up to £3 million a year.

He has made attempts to get it back. Last year, former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel wrote a letter to the King’s private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, suggesting a review of the duke’s protections, but the email was leaked and Dame Priti apologized.

Andrew was forced to step down from royal duties at the end of 2019 following his disastrous Newsnight interview about his relationship with Epstein. The disgraced financier had committed suicide in a jail cell in August of that year while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

In 2022, Andrew paid a £7 million settlement to Virginia Giuffre, and later that year he was officially stripped of his royal title and his police protection. The Duke has strongly denied all allegations against him.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on protective security.’

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson declined to comment.