There have been calls for King Charles to take further action on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor following his arrest last week, and make further statements, but the situation is complex, a royal expert has claimed. The former prince was arrested last Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office after being accused of sharing sensitive information with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein while serving as the UK’s trade envoy.
Royal expert Phil Dampier said: “The fact that he’s now the subject of a police investigation means that they can’t really talk about it, because obviously it’s ongoing. I genuinely don’t think they can comment really, while a police investigation is going on, and obviously that could take months.”
Speaking to Hello! Magazine, the royal expert further added King Charles should “address the nation” once the situation has “calmed”.
The expert said: “They’ve got to heed public opinion. If the King gets an opportunity to get ahead of this by saying, ‘what happened was terrible and we’re deeply concerned about the victims’, that would draw a line under it, rather like the Queen decided to make a live public broadcast to quell the anger over the death of Diana. I think a reset is needed and it will be good if Charles can do it.”
On Monday, it was revealed that the Australian Prime Minister had written to Sir Keir Starmer to say his Government would back “any proposal” to remove Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession.
Phil added: “I think it will probably happen within six months. It could happen quite quickly – whether he ends up being charged or ending up in court or not. The political will and public opinion are so strong that it would end up being a gesture in some ways. He’s clearly not going to come back as a working royal and the monarchy only exists with the support of the public.”
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The disgraced former prince can only be removed from the line of succession by an Act of Parliament, which requires agreement from the 14 Commonwealth countries, where Charles is head of state.
Andrew became the first Royal Family member to be arrested in modern times when he was held over claims of misconduct in public office. Emails appeared to show him sharing confidential information with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while working as a trade representative.
Emails released by the US Department of Justice in the latest tranche of files relating to Epstein include claims that the former prince forwarded government reports from visits to Vietnam, Singapore and China to Epstein in 2010.
Andrew has not responded to requests for comment on specific allegations that have emerged after the release of the files last month. He has previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.