Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Fighting Epstein-Linked Arrest, Is First Royal To Challenge a Criminal Proceeding Since 1649

The challenge by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to his arrest eight months ago is the first time a member of the Royal Family has contested the lawfulness of criminal proceedings against them since the trial of King Charles I in 1649. Charles was beheaded, a fate that the current scion of the House of Windsor will not face. Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, previously known as “His Royal Highness The Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order,” was arrested in January by Thames Valley Police. His apprehension concerned his connection to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has not been charged, and a hearing on his petition is set for Thursday at London.Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor was taken into custody on his 66th birthday and brought to a police station, where he was questioned for almost 12 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office, a somewhat obscure crime. Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor is alleged to have shared sensitive material with Epstein when the royal was serving as Britain’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment between 2001 and 2011.As part of the investigation, police also searched Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s residences at Marsh Farm and Royal Lodge, taking reams of documents into police custody. Now the brother of King Charles III — and the eighth in the line of succession to the throne — is asking a High Court judge to review whether the detention and searches were lawful. “Misconduct in public office” is a common law crime that requires a showing of conduct “so far below acceptable standards that it amounts to an abuse of the public’s trust.” In 1765, the legal scholar Sir William Blackstone reckoned that it was “a crime of deep malignity.” The charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, but Britain’s Law Commission reckons that it is “widely considered to be ill-defined and has been subject to recent criticism.”‘King Charles I,’ by Anthony Van Dyck, 1636. Royal Collection via Wikimedia CommonsMr. Mountbatten-Windsor is not the only high-profile figure to come under suspicion of abusing his office in connection with Epstein. London’s former envoy to America, Lord Peter Mandelson, was arrested on suspicion of the same crime a month after Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor. Lord Mandelson and his husband reportedly received payments from Epstein between 2002 and 2011, more than a decade before Mr. Mandelson served as ambassador under Prime Minister Keir Starmer.After Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, Charles issued a statement insisting that the “law must take its course” and that the police “have our full and wholehearted support and cooperation.” He added that “as this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.” The letter was signed, unusually, “Charles R.”Thames Valley Police confirmed in a statement on Monday that authorities are “engaged in legal proceedings in relation to warrants previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court.” Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor stepped down from his royal duties in 2019 following a BBC Newsnight interview about his affiliation with Epstein. Last year, King Charles further diminished his younger brother following the memoir of a prominent accuser of Epstein, Virginia Giuffre.In 1649, King Charles I was tried at Westminster Hall and convicted of high treason during the English Civil War. He was accused of “a wicked design to erect and uphold in himself an unlimited and tyrannical power to rule according to his Will, and to overthrow the Rights and Liberties of the People.” Charles argued that no earthly court possessed the jurisdiction or authority to judge a sovereign monarch who ruled by divine right.A contemporary chronicler records that Charles declared, “Remember, I am your King, your lawful King, and what sins you bring upon your heads, and the judgement of God upon this land. Think well upon it, I say, think well upon it, before you go further from one sin to a greater.” He added, “I have a trust committed to me by God, by old and lawful descent, I will not betray it, to answer a new unlawful authority.”King Charles was executed on January 30, 1649.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Fighting Epstein-Linked Arrest, Is First Royal To Challenge a Criminal Proceeding Since 1649

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Fighting Epstein-Linked Arrest, Is First Royal To Challenge a Criminal Proceeding Since 1649

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