00:00We begin with the arrest rocking the United Kingdom. Police arrived at the home of Andrew
00:05Mountbatten-Windsor this morning and took the 66-year-old into custody. He was arrested on
00:11suspicion of misconduct in public office. King Charles, his brother, issued a rare personally
00:17signed statement in which Charles said the law must take its course and he promised his family
00:25will continue their duty and service. Now, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had not been charged with a
00:31crime, but it is a historic downfall for the king's brother. Windsor was stripped of his Royal Prince
00:38Andrew title back in November after more details emerged of his relationship with the convicted
00:44sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. For more on the historic nature of this arrest, we welcome Martin
00:50Farr to the program. He is a senior lecturer in contemporary British history at Newcastle
00:55University. Thank you for joining us here on France 24. Could you start by just helping us
01:02understand what the conduct was that led to Andrew's arrest?
01:07What we don't know is the short answer. The police have been very limited in what they can say as
01:12it's an ongoing investigation, but they're saying that a man in Norfolk has been charged. The
01:17statement says, we're not naming the arrested man as per national guidance. The case is active. He's
01:23been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, which is a common law offence which relates
01:29to when a person is serving in a public role and is deemed to have or is thought to have
01:34behaved in
01:35such a way as to cast doubt upon his performance and to put his role in public concern. We think
01:42this
01:43comes after the most recent revelations of Andrew McBath in Windsor's role as a trade envoy for the
01:48government between 2001 and 2011 and the possibility, the accusation, the Republic group in Britain,
01:55which is the large anti-monarchist group, has put a statement out that it's that through their
01:59pressing of this case with the police and their threat for private investigation that the police
02:04have acted. So we think at the moment it relates to the possibility that he shared information,
02:10which was meant to be private, with a third party, possibly Jeffrey Epstein, possibly someone else.
02:15To that extent, it's rather similar to the investigations which Lord Mandelson is currently
02:21undergoing as well, misconduct in public office, revealing secrets, confidential information,
02:26possibly for personal advantage. Now this is an unprecedented situation, but do we know if it's
02:32possible Andrew could have any special privileges within the justice system as a member of the royal
02:38family? No. I mean, it's really important to stress just how extraordinary the story is. I've been
02:44going through all of the world's newspapers, the world news sites across different languages,
02:48different continents. It's leading every single one. It's an enormous story. And the King has
02:54released a statement. It's on the royal family website now. I've learned with deepest concern the
02:58news about Andrew McBath in Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office. What now follows is
03:03the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner
03:07and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I've said before, they have our full and wholehearted
03:12support and cooperation. And here's the key sentence. Let me state clearly, the law must take
03:17its course. So this is, it's absolutely critical for the institution of the monarchy. I mean,
03:22yesterday the King and the Queen were opening a theatre in London. The Prince of Wales, the heir to the
03:27throne, was initiating his new mental health charity, Mental Health Awareness Day. They have a very clear
03:32agenda of what they want to do in terms of duty and service. The King's statement ends with the
03:36sentence, meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all. So it's an
03:41enormous embarrassment for the institution, and they must be seen to be completely clear and
03:46transparent. Indeed, Andrew McBath in Windsor has been arrested, we think, or is being questioned
03:50at Sandringham in Norfolk, to where he was evicted by the King from Windsor after the latest Epstein
03:57file. So the family has acted too slowly for some, but it's certainly keen to try and isolate this and
04:03to be as cooperative as possible with the authorities, which has, there's no government
04:07interference, there's no royal family interference. This is purely an act of the Crown Prosecution
04:11Service and the Thames Valley Police, which is where Windsor is, the county that Windsor's in.
04:16And correct me if I'm wrong, but he was arrested, Andrew was arrested at the personal home,
04:22a personal home of the King. Is that correct? Yes, that's right. Yes. It was, it was, it was very
04:28embarrassing for the family that he was living at Windsor, which is a public area. He's been sent
04:31to, essentially sent to Sandringham, which is a private estate. So the King is, he's living at the
04:36King's sort of charity, as it were, but it's a private place. So no one would be able to see
04:42him.
04:42He was, he was being seen regularly riding horses and in his car and waving, which added to the
04:46embarrassment. So him being sequestered there was meant to help limit the story. But then of course,
04:51the police have intervened and it's become a much greater story than anyone would have imagined.
04:55Now, Andrew's ties to Jeffrey Epstein, they haven't been secret. They've been known for
05:01quite a long time, but were there signs that this arrest was coming?
05:08Frankly, I was surprised it's taken as long as it has for a police investigation to take place,
05:12given what's been in the public domain. And of course, one has to stress that the prince has
05:16denied all wrongdoing. But the fact that the revelations of him as a trade envoy make this
05:22a public matter rather than merely a matter for his conduct for the royal family. He was
05:27actually on behalf of the government and he may well have been sharing secrets, sharing trade
05:31information in his role as an envoy. And that is, I think, is the hook on which they're moving
05:38against him. There may well be other investigations relating to Epstein. And indeed, the statements come
05:42out from Virginia Dufresne's family as to their relief that this is taking place. Of course,
05:48he's refused or he's declined the opportunity to certify to congressional hearings. That would be,
05:53I suspect, the next stage. Further pressure from the United States for him to answer questions
05:58in the Epstein files. And indeed, one of the great concerns of the family, the royal family,
06:02is that the files are still ongoing. We don't yet know what is in there, more will come out.
06:07More photographs are released on a regular basis, each one of which adds to the embarrassment of
06:12the institution. And so they won't say this. But even though it's enormously embarrassing,
06:17there may be some sense of relief that this is now out of the royal family's hands in terms of
06:20their mediating the story. And it's in the hands of the prosecutors and the police. So it's a clean
06:25break in that sense. Right, because it's estimated that there are as many as two to three million
06:30files still to come with the Justice Department's release of the Epstein files. Martin Farr,
06:36a senior lecturer in contemporary British history. Thank you so much for your time and expertise
06:41and sharing it with us.
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