Ever since the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, no member of the royal family has been arrested, which makes this morning’s news that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been taken into police custody under suspicion of misconduct in public office all the more seismic. And with a certain grim irony, his arrest comes on his 66th birthday, of all days.
This arrest represents not so much the beginning of the end as the point at which the Rubicon has been crossed, forever
This development had seemed inevitable for a considerable amount of time now. Remarks from both Buckingham Palace and prime minister Sir Keir Starmer in the past few days seemed to indicate that both the King and the Prime Minister expected that the once-unthinkable would happen sooner rather than later. Which means that the visit of six unmarked police cars and plain-clothes officers to Wood Farm in Sandringham today is something that only fool – or an optimistic former royal – would have bet against.
The latest reports in the Epstein files that Andrew may have passed on sensitive information to the pedophile financier during his time as a trade envoy, AKA “Air Miles Andy,” seemed a far more likely basis for criminal prosecution than the shadier, grimmer details of whether or not the former Duke of York had been involved in the sex trafficking of underage girls. His argument on the latter account is that he has never committed a crime, and he has denied all wrongdoing. The fact that he had never been arrested meant that there were still a few who were willing to defend him, citing the presumption of innocence before guilt is proven. It seems likely that these people will now be a great deal quieter.
Of course, just because Andrew has been arrested does not necessarily mean that he will be charged, any more than a conviction is inevitable. Yet the suspicion also remains that the wider Firm will not be offering any support, tacit or otherwise. Andrew has been an extraordinary embarrassment to the royal family for years now, ever since his disastrous TV interview in 2019. This arrest represents not so much the beginning of the end as the point at which the Rubicon has been crossed, forever.
The saga of Andrew’s involvement with Epstein has been grim and unsavory from beginning to end. While the sex scandal aspect is the one that has attracted the most attention, and criticism, it is these new allegations that may yet be Andrew’s undoing. Peter Mandelson – another disgraced figure thanks to his Epstein toadying – may well be expecting a similar fate to befall him over the coming days. The police are sending out a clear message that they will be investigating allegations of misconduct in public office without fear or favor. The arrest of a senior member of the royal family – a man who still remains eighth in line to the throne, although we can expect this to change very shortly, especially if he is charged with a crime – is the most unprecedented occurrence that there has been in living memory.
Charles and the royal family had hoped that 2026 would be a quieter and more harmonious time for the royals after two of the most turbulent years in memory. This latest event has blown that possibility out of the water. We – and they – are in uncharted territory now. Whatever happens over the coming hours and days, it represents an extraordinary, jaw-dropping development that opens up the possibility that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will serve a prison sentence at his brother’s pleasure. What a birthday present to receive.
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