Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor has a well-deserved reputation for being the most arrogant, abrasive and entitled member of the House of Windsor. For decades, Andrew had been moving closer and closer to a legal parapet as he became increasingly known as a royal who would cosy up to shady people from shady places who gave him the luxurious lifestyle that he believed was his due.
On Feb. 19, he was arrested by Thames Valley Police at 8 a.m on “suspicion of misconduct in public office.” He was released and hasn’t been charged with any crime but he’s the first senior royal arrested since King Charles I in 1647, during the English Civil War. (That monarch was executed two years later.)
The arrest of “Air Miles Andy” is believed to be related to police investigations into his decade-long stint as a trade envoy for the United Kingdom (in addition, there are multiple investigations into allegations of sexual wrongdoing). The inquiries were sparked by emails discovered in the Epstein files, released by the U.S. Department of Justice, that seem to show that the then-Prince Andrew, Duke of York, forwarded sensitive government documents to his friend, the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Time stamps on one email chain appear to show correspondence was sent on to Epstein five minutes after being received by Andrew. In another, regarding a “confidential brief” about Afghanistan, the royal allegedly states, “I am going to offer this elsewhere in my network (including in Abu Dhabi).”
“Email discipline” may not have been a term the former prince was familiar with, but it’s likely top of mind now. People who handle confidential government information undergo regular training to make sure they understand and are complying with the procedures and laws that govern the distribution and transmission of those sensitive documents.
Beyond being the first such arrest in nearly 400 years, what is also notable is the extent to which the King and Royal Family have made it explicitly clear that they will not interfere in any way, shape or form with the justice system’s interest in Andrew. As an institution that is passed down through a family, the monarchy is only as strong as its weakest member. Sometimes, a sharp pruning is needed to keep the main branch alive. In this case, the Royal Family was prepared to ruthlessly excise Andrew from royal life if it would help mitigate the damage to the institution as a whole.
Since October, King Charles has made a series of increasingly drastic statements in his effort to put distance between the House of Windsor and his brother, who was arrested on his 66th birthday.
On Oct. 30, the King stripped all royal titles and styles from his brother, reducing him from HRH Prince Andrew to the plain Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He also announced that Andrew would finally be leaving his luxurious home of Royal Lodge for less salubrious accommodation paid for personally by his brother on the private royal estate of Sandringham.
This month, as the allegations grew even more serious, the monarch went further. On Feb. 9, a statement from the palace effectively left Andrew to his fate: “While the specific claims in question are for Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor to address, if we are approached by Thames Valley Police we stand ready to support them as you would expect.”
On Feb. 19, hours after Andrew was arrested, the King was even more explicit: “What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation. Let me state clearly: the law must take its course.”
Giving the authorities his “full and wholehearted support and co-operation” is royal for “Andrew is an adult, responsible for his own actions.” It is the only path remaining for the monarch as he attempts to cauterize the Andrew-shaped wound left to fester by their mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
For decades, Andrew’s aura of untouchable royal privilege was reinforced by the queen, who did the bare minimum required of her as monarch every time a scandal swirled around Andrew. She stopped Andrew from undertaking royal duties on behalf of the monarch, and took away his royal patronages, but allowed him to keep all other trappings of a man eighth in line to the throne. That inability to proactively dig into Andrew’s sordid life to see how deep the rot lay is one of the reasons the crisis is now so serious. After all, many of the emails he sent to Epstein appear to have been sent from his royal email account.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor may have been born a prince, second in line to the throne, but he, like all other members of the Royal Family, has none of the constitutional protections of his big brother, Charles III. The distinction between monarch and “ordinary royal” was shown in 2002 when Princess Anne became the first royal convicted of a criminal offence when she pleaded guilty to a charge under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Of Andrew’s arrest, former chief superintendent of London’s Metropolitan Police Dal Babu told Sky News, “You don’t have to arrest someone you are investigating, so, to actually arrest would suggest there is significant evidence.”
Meanwhile, the royals keep working. As the King stated, “My family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.” One of those engagements, on Feb. 19, was a visit to Leeds Prison by the monarch’s no-nonsense sister, Princess Anne, in her capacity as royal patron of the Butler Trust, which promotes the social inclusion, psychological well-being and rehabilitation of offenders.
Given the seriousness of the allegations piling up on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, her brother may need help from that charity in the not-to-distant future.
