00:00In this bulletin with breaking news coming in from UK, it seems amid the Epstein files
00:06row, the former prince, Prince Andrew, has been arrested. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
00:14has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The UK royal, former UK royal,
00:22has been now arrested. Now this has happened as he was celebrating his 66th birthday.
00:30Now, this is first high-profile arrest in the Epstein files. UK police has said that it is
00:37important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work
00:41with our partners to investigate this alleged offense.
00:49So, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
00:56Police say that he is in custody and officers are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire
01:03and Norfolk. Photos were released which showed many cars arriving at his estate earlier this morning.
01:14And the Thames Valley police are saying that they were assessing a complaint over the alleged sharing of
01:21confidential material by the former prince with sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
01:29Andrew turned 66 today. And this arrest comes on the day he was celebrating his birthday. He has
01:38already been removed from the UK royal line-up. Joining us now is India Today's Geeta Mohan.
01:45Geeta, what do we know about this arrest?
01:49Well, these are very, the details aren't coming out enough for us to say that it is exactly what are
01:59the
01:59counts charges on which the former prince has been arrested or taken into custody.
02:06But these are reports that are coming in from UK media wherein they have only mentioned the official position
02:13is that on suspicion of misconduct in his time in office, the individual has been arrested for the investigations
02:23that are being carried out with regards to the Epstein files. But beyond that, they have not revealed the
02:29identity. And it clearly says, the statement says that they want to protect the identity of the person.
02:33But media reports have suggested that the arrest was made or that the man was taken into custody
02:43from the current residence of the former prince. And this certainly is one of the most serious cases in
02:52terms of how it's moving forward in the investigations. Unlike what we've seen in the United States of America,
02:59there are more heads that have rolled in other parts of the world, other countries, and particularly this
03:05one case where there are too many details that are coming out of those emails that have been declassified.
03:11And clearly show not just misconduct, but also the charges are grave. They are there to do with not just
03:20soliciting women while in office, they have to do with the treatment, the age of the of the of the
03:29women or the
03:29girls. And therefore, this is a very, very serious case and investigations are being carried out.
03:36The matter is something that has embarrassed the royal family. Remember, every time King Charles now goes
03:41anywhere and in a public function, he's normally asked questions, especially when Prince Andrew was
03:47not stripped of his title. The then prince, there were a lot of questions that were asked of him. And
03:54now
03:54we're looking at the entire case taking a very, very serious turn. This is amid the Epstein files
04:02that we're looking at Andrew Mountbatten being taken into custody. Misconduct in public office is the
04:11suspicion. We'll have to wait and see what the details that emerge for now. The authorities have not
04:16named the former prince. Absolutely. And his privacy is being kept secret by the police there. But let's talk
04:25about the former prince Andrew right now. What are the kind of things that had come out once the Epstein
04:32files were released? Because he did, he was removed from the Royal Lodge. So there must have been some
04:38allegations that have come out. Can you give us a little detail about that? Well, some of it. It's the
04:45fact that he admitted to a certain wrongdoing while in public office serving as a prince, a part of the
04:53royalty and traveling and enjoying the privileges of that of being a prince. And while he was that,
05:02the emails that have surfaced very clearly showed that he was soliciting women. The exchange is very
05:09clear in terms of how he sought certain kind of women in certain places, in certain countries. There
05:17are victims who have come out and actually named the individual. There are photos that have come
05:23out. There are exchanges between him and Epstein that are now out. So there's enough incriminating
05:29evidence. The only part of the investigation that would really do him in in many ways than one is
05:36should he be found guilty of soliciting underage girls? That certainly is going to be a very,
05:43very serious case. Apart from that, the fact that there has been victimization, torture,
05:50reports of torture, there are victims who are talking about it, who have been out in the open
05:55about it. So the case is rather serious. And if the investigations are to do with Epstein file,
06:02if the individual later turns out to be the man in question over here, then this is a very serious
06:09term. In fact, one of the most serious handling of the Epstein files in any country that we've seen so
06:15far. Absolutely. We've seen a lot of talk in America, but no action as yet. We've seen daily
06:21press briefings in the White House where the questions are raised, but the answers are not given.
06:26You are correctly saying that this is probably the first action that we're seeing at such a high
06:30level. But do tell us how, what kind of light does that put over the royal family? Complete dissociation
06:35with him, removing the title, moving him out of the royal lodge. Will that be enough? Or this is going
06:41to cast a shadow over the royal family? Well, it has indeed cast a shadow, unlike any other, because
06:50the royal family of Britain is treated very differently. And we all know how important they
06:56are to the whole push in terms of foreign policy and how they further the agenda of the government in
07:04many ways than one. And over here, the fact that he used those privileges to travel, he used those
07:10privileges to be able to live a very wealthy, healthy and prosperous life. And he misused those privileges
07:19by taking young girls and victimizing them through sexual offenses. That's a very, very serious charge.
07:33So for now, the fact that there's so many details that are emerging from the email exchange that he's had
07:39with Ghislaine Maxwell and with Epstein during the course of their interaction and their relationship,
07:48so to say, clearly shows that there is a lot that must be under investigation when it comes to
07:55this one individual. Apart from having been stripped of his royalty, he's also stripped of his title.
08:02He was also asked to move out of the official residence and move to an unofficial cottage. So again,
08:13we'll have to wait and see where the investigations are headed for now. The authorities are rather
08:18tight-lipped. They are not revealing the name of the person or the charges against him, just saying
08:24that this is a very serious case and that there are investigations that are underway. And so a said
08:31individual has been arrested and have not divulged the name of the individual.
08:36All right. Gita, do tell us which are the big names on which the spotlight has been constant. We do
08:44know,
08:44of course, the former prince is there. There are some other UK royals as well, the former royals who have
08:51been, whose names surfaced in terms of email exchanges. And then there are many so-called royalty or who are
09:00celebrities or rich people or politicians in America and other countries who are said to have had some
09:06sort of either relations or email exchanges or some sort of a relationship with that man, even after
09:14he was convicted. So can you give us an idea about which are the big names?
09:19Well, there are some very big names that he himself was connected with.
09:24We do know that the names and I'm here at the AI summit where the name of Bill Gates coming
09:32up at the
09:33in the Epstein files have become a source of a huge embarrassment. And there was a lot of conversation around
09:40whether if he's going to be a keynote speaker or not, his name will be there or not on the
09:44on the web as well.
09:47So there are many others who are big names and whose names have have appeared, whether it's Noam Tromsky,
09:54one of the most well-known authors and political thinkers, or for that matter, Stephen Hawking,
10:01whose name appeared in the Epstein files. But more prominently from the United States,
10:07the Norwegian family, royal family. But more importantly, from the from the point of view of the
10:15United States of America, Trump, the Clintons, Obamas, they were all part of the party.
10:22Meera Nair, Mamdani's mother and a renowned filmmaker. They all figure in the name, in the list. But in
10:33terms of investigations and incriminating evidence, there are only a very few who have a very serious
10:39charges against them. There are certainly some names, including the president of the United States of
10:45America. And very recently, the name of Howard Lutnick, the Commerce Secretary, also came out.
10:52So we'll have to wait and see how it pans out, because we do know that officials in the US
10:57have
10:57really or are really fighting to the nail to prove their innocence. In some other cases, it has become
11:04rather untenable. And therefore, you've seen some resignations, particularly when it comes to
11:10stripping the former prince of his title. That has happened. But in terms of investigations and
11:17further details of who are really involved, this is not just sexual offense, a case of sexual offense
11:23or repeat offense. It's also about trafficking. It's about underage girls. It's about teenagers. It's about
11:29slavery, so to say. So there are a lot of serious charges, should the charges be proven. The said
11:39individual, in this case, former prince Andrew, and in other cases, heads of state, heads of government,
11:46prominent political thinkers, filmmakers, lawyers, they're all in the Epstein files that will have to face
11:54some sort of rule of the law.
11:59Right. Absolutely. And as you were saying, many of them might not have much to do with the man,
12:04but they were politically exposed. They either shared pictures with him or any sort of relationship
12:10that could be established, because almost 300 high profile names were released by the DOJ. And if you
12:17could tell us, how did this entire issue came to the fore? How did the world get to know about
12:24Epstein,
12:25despite the fact that his entire business had been running for many, many years?
12:31Well, there have been victims of Epstein who have come out and spoken in the past also. Nobody really
12:36paid heed or attention to the victims. There are individuals who have written books. There are
12:45individuals who have taken the matter to court, filed cases against Epstein, but it all was not
12:53handled in the way it should have been handled. The power brokers, the powers that be, really did not
13:01want this entire issue to come out because a lot of names, like you can very clearly see, would have
13:07been out in the open. And then finally, there was a case of complaints that were filed with regards to
13:13Epstein and his residence. And that's when everything unraveled for him because the case is filed. The cops
13:20took note of the victim and all the other earlier accounts came out. So he was indeed in prison. He
13:30died,
13:31in prison. While he was in prison. Gillian Maxwell is still serving. And that's when all the
13:38the laptops, the computers that were seized from his residence were taken into custody. And the files
13:48were classified and only now have been declassified. So since the files have been declassified, names have
13:57been coming out. There are this is a massive tranche. So there are organizations that have done
14:03a lot of work to organize these emails in a way that people who are looking for a certain individual
14:09or certain name and and connections would be able to find those connections. And therefore, you're seeing
14:15a lot of steady flow of information coming out of the Epstein files. Right. And coming back to the
14:23former prince, do tell us what has been the attitude of the government in UK and the royal family as
14:29far
14:29as the allegations and the subsequent action against him has been concerned.
14:38Okay, we'll try and connect with Geeta once more. But as she was just informing us, this entire network of
14:46Epstein has blown open. And now one of the people affected is the former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
14:56He was in the political eye of the political storm earlier as well. And that is why he was stripped
15:03of his official title, his official royal title. He was asked to move out of his official residence.
15:11And now it seems, as the UK police are saying, that a man in his 60s has been arrested in
15:19this matter.
15:20They have not named the person who has been arrested. But the UK media seems to be reporting
15:26that it is the former Prince Andrew who has been arrested by the police. Now, this is a huge news
15:34right now coming in from the UK. This would be the first big arrest in the matter of Epstein files.
15:43Now,
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