CANBERRA, May 25: The embattled representative in Australia of the British Queen resigned on Sunday after a sex scandal from his clergyman past stripped him of public and political support, Australian media reported.

Governor-General Peter Hollingworth resigned because it was clear the controversy and allegations made against him had the potential to undermine the office of governor-general, media reports said, quoting Hollingworth.

Hollingworth, a 68-year-old former archbishop, stepped aside earlier this month after news emerged that he had been accused of rape. But he refused to bow to calls for his resignation after an Anglican church inquiry found he had protected paedophile priests in the 1990s as archbishop of Brisbane.

A court dismissed the untested rape claim on Friday but the child sex scandal continued to dog Hollingworth.

The scandal is the biggest to hit the vice-regal office since 1975, when then governor-general Sir John Kerr dismissed a Labour government that had been unable to secure parliamentary authorisation for public spending.

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is also Australia’s head of state. Although the role is largely ceremonial the governor-general, representing the queen, signs off on legislation and has the power to dismiss a government.—Reuters