Overview
- The New Zealand Geographic Board has formally reviewed a proposal to remove the name “Prince Andrew Plateau” and deferred a final decision after its April discussion, with members likely to revisit the matter at an October 13 meeting.
- Documents released under the Official Information Act show Land Information New Zealand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet were consulted and advised that Buckingham Palace approval is needed to change a royal designation.
- Officials say replacing the plateau with another royal name is unlikely because nearby features already honour Queen Elizabeth II’s children, so advice recommends either a new non-royal name or leaving the feature without a formal designation.
- The plateau was named in 1962 and sits in New Zealand’s Ross Dependency within the Queen Elizabeth Range, and the renaming push followed King Charles’s removal of Andrew’s royal titles in late 2025 and Andrew’s February 2026 arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
- Coverage varies on wider actions by New Zealand — one outlet reports the country backing removal of Andrew from the line of succession but that claim is single-sourced and not corroborated in other documents or reporting.