What Former Prince Andrew’s Arrest Says About the Royal Family: ‘It’s the Stuff of Nightmares’

Prince William has been instrumental in distancing the royal family from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in the wake of the Epstein scandal — and a royals expert explains why

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in 2017. He has since been stripped of his royal title.Max Mumby/Getty Images

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest in Norfolk, England on Thursday marked the first time in more than 350 years that a senior member of the royal family has been arrested.

“This is uncharted territory for the royal family and who knows where it’s going to end,” Duncan Larcombe tells Rolling Stone. Larcombe has been reporting on the British royal family since 2004 and is the author of Prince Harry: The Inside Story. “This is something that is potentially hugely damaging, and for King Charles, it’s the stuff of nightmares.”

Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest is not tied to ongoing allegations of sexual misconduct on his part, but it is related to revelations in the Epstein files that the royal sent trade reports to Jeffrey Epstein in 2010, while he was working for the British government. Thames Valley Police arrested King Charles’ brother on his 66th birthday on “suspicion of misconduct in public office.” He has been released under investigation, and the photograph of him leaving the police station made front page headlines across the U.K. on Friday. The impact of Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest extends beyond the U.K.’s borders, however, making international news, and an Epstein investigative reporter tells Rolling Stone the arrest of a royal can be seen as a sign that, at least outside of the States, nobody is above the law.

King Charles III stripped his brother of his titles in October following continued scrutiny over his ties to Epstein. After Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, the British monarch released a statement saying law enforcement has the royal family’s full and wholehearted support and co-operation. “Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,” he said.

Larcombe says that Mountbatten-Windsor being stripped of his titles was a “preemptive strike” by the royal family to create as much distance as they can from him.

“It’s an indication that [Andrew’s] brother, the king, grasped how serious some of these allegations are,” says Larcombe. “This sort of shows that the royals knew what was going to happen. If they’re on a life raft after a shipwreck, Charles is not going to dive into the water to save his brother. Self-preservation is more important.”

Larcombe says that perhaps if the Queen were still alive, Mountbatten-Windsor would have been slightly more protected. He says he thinks Prince William has been “particularly instrumental” in putting pressure on his family to separate themselves from Mountbatten-Windsor.

“William’s head is screwed on and he realizes just how potentially damaging this could be for the wider royal family,” says Larcombe. He adds that in the U.K., King Charles, William and Catherine are all “incredibly popular” so he doesn’t think this is the end of the royal family. This just shows they will put the institution of the family above familial ties.

“They can weather this storm, but as far as they’re concerned, Andrew is now being hung out to dry,” he says. “They’re not going down with this sinking ship.”

Larbombe says that the numerous allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor have been around for 15 to 16 years, but the latest release of the Epstein files have been damaging because they provide British authorities with a more black and white way of investigating the royal on misconduct in public office. But, he says, in the context of British royalty, this arrest is unprecedented in modern history.

“My jaw hit the floor,” says Larcombe. “If Andrew goes to prison, it will be at his brother’s pleasure,” referring to the term “at His Majesty’s pleasure,” which is used to describe a prison sentence. He says that he thinks this will be seen as a historical moment in the country. “You’ll remember where you were when you heard Prince Andrew had been arrested.”

Epstein investigative journalist Julie K. Brown says that when she heard Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested, her first thought was of Virginia Giuffre. Giuffre, who died by suicide last April, was one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers and alleged she was forced to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor as a teenager. She settled a high-profile sexual assault lawsuit against Mountbatten-Windsor in 2022.

“Virginia had been through so much and fought so hard for accountability, especially where the former Prince Andew was concerned,” says Brown. “I understand that his charge didn’t have to do with sexual wrongdoing but anyone who does investigations knows that sometimes you can’t make one charge stick but you can find something else to charge someone with.”

“It seems as though King Charles set this up so that the authorities would do the right thing,” adds Brown. “He stepped back — all this time, the feeling was that Andrew was being protected, so this shows that no one is above the law. And that’s been sort of the theme of this story, that there seems to be so many powerful, influential, politically-connected people who so far have been above the law.”

“Even though the Justice Department has sort of shut this down here in the U.S.,” says Brown, referring to the fact that there have been no such high-profile consequences in the States, “I feel like the world is with them. The public has put this on the front burner, because they’re paying attention to this story. And I think that [Epstein’s victims] can feel that they can feel that they have support, maybe not with our government, but with the public in general, in the world in general. And I think that that makes them feel some solace that there are at least some people in the world that believe them.”