00:00And for more on this developing story, France 24's International Affairs Editor, Angela Diffley, joins us here in the studio.
00:06Hello, Angela. Do we know yet exactly what suspected misconduct this arrest stems from?
00:14Well, there are two police investigations. One was into the allegations that Andrew trafficked women to Windsor Castle when he
00:26was living there for sex.
00:28That is one. The other one, which emerged after the latest batch of Epstein files, is the idea that he
00:36was appointed UK Trade Envoy.
00:39And while he was UK Trade Envoy, we can see from emails with Jeffrey Epstein, it appears that he shared
00:46confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein.
00:49And on another occasion, emails suggest that he was travelling with the Queen to the United Arab Emirates.
00:57And he was talking to the Emiratis, it appears from the email, and suggested they should be doing business with
01:07Jeffrey Epstein.
01:08This was in 2010. Jeffrey Epstein had been released from that open prison after his first conviction just months before
01:16this.
01:16So, this is in the emails. There was, in the light of those emails about the Trade Envoy activity, an
01:24investigation was opened into that.
01:26It is thought that this arrest pertains to that, although it's not absolutely clear.
01:30You know, this Trade Envoy post itself, Andrew, when he was Prince Andrew, was appointed to this job largely because
01:37he was becoming an embarrassment.
01:39Nobody knew what to do with him. And it was thought that there was a lot of complaint about the
01:44fact he was receiving an enormous amount of public money as a member of the royal family and didn't appear
01:49to be doing much.
01:50And so, this post was almost invented for him. It was thought that he's quite a gregarious person.
01:55He might be able to do something useful in terms of promoting Britain abroad.
01:59And it appears from these emails that he was using the Trade Envoy job for other reasons as well.
02:09That is what's being investigated.
02:11You know, he's been taken into custody after being arrested at Sandringham in Norfolk this morning.
02:17It's likely he'll be released fairly quickly.
02:19He's not a danger. There's no reason not to.
02:22And we will find out perhaps then more about this.
02:27He's living in Sandringham, of course, because he was evicted from the grounds of Windsor Castle by the king.
02:33Now, Angela, this is an unprecedented situation in the United Kingdom.
02:38But Andrew's ties to Jeffrey Epstein have been long known.
02:42Can you tell us a little bit more about how the royal family has been communicating about this case leading
02:47up to the arrest and what we've heard from them since it happened this morning?
02:51Yeah, well, it should be noted, of course, it was Queen Elizabeth II who was reigning when all of this
02:57first emerged.
02:59And it's never been exactly clear who paid the £12 million settlement to Virginia Dufresne,
03:06who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault when she was 17 years old.
03:11And it has been strongly rumoured that Queen Elizabeth paid that from her private purse.
03:19We really don't know where that money came from.
03:23So many people have pointed out, you know, she was it was widely thought that Prince Andrew, as he was
03:30then, was the Queen's favourite son.
03:32She would have been devastated to see what has happened today.
03:36That is as clear as could be.
03:38Once King Charles took over, it seems very clear that he had a plan to try to limit the damage
03:48to the monarchy.
03:49He clearly had been advised that this thing was going to get bigger and bigger.
03:53But he acted sort of incrementally, small action by small action.
04:00He first of all, it was communicated early last year that Prince Andrew had agreed not to use many of
04:07his titles.
04:07A lot of the British public thought you don't agree to what sort of sanctions you might be receiving for
04:15what appears to be at the very best scandalous behaviour, if not worse.
04:22Yes. And then after that, the King stripped him of his title of being Prince Andrew.
04:29That was late last year.
04:31And then as it became clear that these Epstein files, the next lot, were about to be released and that
04:37things could only get worse,
04:39he was told he would have to leave Windsor Castle property, that is public property,
04:43and go to the King's private property, Sandringham Palace, nevertheless still a royal palace, to live in the grounds of
04:51that palace.
04:51And he was hurriedly moved there when the tranche of Epstein files came out in January.
04:58So the King has tried to limit the damage.
05:01It is very complicated.
05:02This is at once a family.
05:04This is his younger brother and a vital institution.
05:09And the King's priority is preserving that institution.
05:12It should be noted when he goes out on walkabouts and for public engagements, he has been heckled recently over
05:19this.
05:19That is something you didn't see very much of.
05:21On each occasion when he has been heckled, a bigger number of people have said, be quiet, be quiet to
05:27the heckler.
05:29Polls show the King hasn't been affected too much and it's thought he is trying to clean this thing up,
05:34get it out of the way for when Prince William takes over.
05:37We don't know when.
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