Was Thursday, 19 February 2026 the worst day faced by a British royal family since the death of Diana? Or the worst since the abdication crisis of 1936? Perhaps we have to look back to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the overthrow of King James II to find a comparable royal calamity?
Comparisons with the past have been interesting but at times a little strained. Part of what makes them problematic is context: the obvious decline in deference towards the monarchy and traditional authority complicates “then and now” comparisons. But the specifics of this scandal are also distinct.
Unlike the abdication crisis, or other singular events, the fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been grinding and slow-moving.
Concerns about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein began around 2008. Allegations linking him to the late Virginia Guiffre were first made in 2014, and relate to events alleged to have taken place in 2001, a quarter of a century ago.
The timing is also distinct. Long before Andrew’s relationship with Epstein came under scrutiny, it was obvious that the British monarchy was inching toward a moment of turbulence. The passing of the late queen, the longest reigning monarch in British history, whenever that day came, was always destined to be a moment of discontinuity.
How were royal wagons circled during earlier chapters in this grim saga? Who knew what, when?
How were royal wagons circled during earlier chapters in this grim saga? Who knew what, when?
It was long foreseen as a stress-test for an institution facing a slow erosion of support and, perhaps more dangerously, a generational decline in perceived relevance. For decades, royal correspondents warned of the challenges the future King Charles would face. Those same royal watchers now ask if the reign of the king may be overshadowed not by the memory of his beloved mother but by the toxic reputation of his brother.
To the victims of Jeffrey Epstein and their families, the great irony is that when the knock-on-the-door finally came, the offence under investigation was misconduct in public office. For Andrew to have been arrested on suspicion of that obscure crime is redolent of Al Capone’s arrest for tax evasion rather than for his career as a gangland boss.
No matter what the next chapter in this saga entails, its definitive image has already materialised. The astonishing photograph, captured by Phil Noble of Reuters, of the former prince being driven out of Aylsham police station late on Thursday night is instant history. It speaks to its moment as eloquently as Hans Holbein the Younger’s great portrait of Henry VIII or Anthony van Dyck’s court paintings of Charles I.
Yet the true power of the image is that something has happened that many people believed would never happen. Someone rich and powerful – a former prince, eighth in line to the throne (at least for now), the brother of the king – has been treated the way anyone else would have been treated if suspected of a similar offence. Arrested, photographed and “processed”.
In an age of corrosive inequality, in which the seeming impunity of the privileged is brazen and undisguised, ideals like “equality before the law” have come to feel like convenient fictions at best, con tricks at worst.
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Bankers who crash economies face no charges. Corporations are invited to negotiate their tax bills and politicians appear unaffected by the laws they pass and untouched by the crises they create. So why would a prince linked to a paedophile financier be the exception?
The arrest opens up the doors not just of a royal residence but to new chapters in the perma-scandal of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Which again make meaningful comparisons with historical scandals difficult to sustain. The documents and hard drives found at Royal Lodge, which have been bagged and tagged by Thames Valley police – what will they contain?
What will the information now in the hands of police reveal about the palace and past governments? How were royal wagons circled during earlier chapters in this grim saga? Who knew what, when? The question is familiar but the answer may catapult us into uncharted waters.
Photograph by Adrian Dennis/Getty