EDITORIAL: Andrew’s sordid behaviour puts heat on monarchy
The British public’s revulsion at Andrew’s sordid lifestyle will mean little tolerance of any further royal misbehaviour.
It is hard to imagine a more deserving downfall than that which is now playing out for the man who was formerly Prince Andrew.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as he is now known, has gone from second-in-line to the crown at his birth, to being tolerated despite boorish behaviour and the moniker Randy Andy, to royal disgrace and then outcast who now stares at a potential future as a common criminal.
Such a previously unthinkable potentiality emerged on Thursday after Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct after an investigation unprecedented in Britain’s modern era.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.As UK police pore over the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was taken into police custody over allegations related to his time as UK trade envoy.
He was later released. But revelations last week appeared to show he had sent Epstein potentially confidential documents during his time as trade envoy.
In a November 2010 email, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor appeared to share with Epstein reports on Vietnam, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Singapore after an official visit to Asia.
The ex-royal also reportedly sent the US financier details of the trip — on which he was accompanied by Epstein’s business associates — along with investment opportunities months later.
Epstein was jailed in 2008 for sex offences involving a minor. In 2019 he was arrested for a second time on charges of sex trafficking and later died by suicide in a New York jail.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor served as a British trade envoy for a decade from 2001 and earned the nickname “air-miles Andy”.
Although the former prince claimed to have severed ties with Epstein in late 2010, the Epstein documents revealed he corresponded with the paedophile financier on March 4, 2011.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s downward spiral had gathered momentum after one of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, alleged she had been trafficked to have sex with him.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor had denied any wrongdoing but reached an out-of-court settlement with Ms Giuffre, who died by suicide in Western Australia last year.
The repulsive lifestyles exhibited in the Epstein files were symptomatic of an entitled view of the world in which Mr Mountbatten-Windsor did as he pleased, either ignorant or dismissive of how sordid it would seem to ordinary people.
He was protected by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, until even she could not turn a blind eye, and in January 2022 it was revealed Andrew would no longer use the title “His Royal Highness”.
Further long overdue action was finally taken in October 2025 by King Charles, who stripped his brother of his remaining titles including that of prince. King Charles said on Friday “the law must take its course”. That course could get even more uncomfortable.
It is not unreasonable to believe that upper crust Britain knew full well what had been going on. Public revulsion at the disgusting behaviour now uncovered will mean little tolerance of any further royal misbehaviour.
Should that emerge there is likely to be serious questioning about the ongoing existence of the monarchy itself.
