Could Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Actually End Up in Prison? How Emails Rather Than Sex Scandals Triggered His Downfall

The stunning fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from “His Royal Highness Prince Andrew of York” to criminal suspect surfaces the possibility of an extraordinary spectacle — a trial where the brother of King Charles III faces a possible prison term over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has already been stripped — first by his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and then by Charles — of his princely station and deprived of his litany of royal perks and prerogatives due to his ties with the disgraced financier. His situation further deteriorated last week when the Thames Police, usually tasked with protecting Windsors, instead arrested one.Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has been dogged for years by allegations of sexual impropriety with young women in Epstein’s circle, but in the end he was arrested on suspicion of the far more ordinary crime — allegedly sharing confidential information with Epstein. “Working royals,” as the term goes, have a formal diplomatic role in His Majesty’s Government, assisted by career foreign service officers, mostly involving maintaining good relations and trade partnerships with former colonies of the British Empire. A recent disgorgement of “Epstein Files” got more attention for a photo of then-Prince Andrew on all fours on top of a young woman, but the files also contained emails between the royal and Epstein sharing confidential trade reports.The king’s younger brother was quickly released, but police confirm that he is under investigation for the crime of “misconduct in a public office” — the same offense of which Britain’s erstwhile ambassador to America, Peter Mandelson, is also accused. Both men were friends with Epstein and are prominently featured in the eponymous files.In the wake of the arrest of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, the king released a statement that the Times reckoned possessed, “by Windsor standards,” the “sharpness and savagery of a guillotine” that conveyed the “unfiltered, if formal, words of an angry king.” Charles pledged “our full and wholehearted support and cooperation” to the investigation into his brother. He insists that “the law must take its course.” Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s place in the succession to the throne is also under threat. This would require an extraordinary act of coordination. Not only would Westminster have to approve the removal, so would all 14 realms of the Commonwealth (including the island of Tuvalu). Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has not yet been charged and has issued no formal statement. The Epstein files appear to suggest that he passed confidential trade reports, among other documents, to Epstein when he was serving as Britain’s trade envoy between 2001 to 2011. That was an unsalaried position to which he was appointed by his mother. Prior to that post he served for 22 years in the Royal Navy, seeing combat in the Falkland Islands.When he was still a working royal, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor received an income of about £250,000 per annum, a drop in the bucket relative to his lifestyle, which included a vast expense account —he earned the nickname “Air Miles Andy” in the tabloids — longtime residence in a vast palace on the royal Windsor Estate known as “The Royal Lodge,” and free travel and accommodations around the world courtesy of friendships, such as the one with Epstein. Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, continued to live with him in the palace and their daughters, the princesses of the blood — meaning that they were born royals rather than married into royalty — were not allowed to be working royals but nevertheless lived a lavish lifestyle. In 2015 alone, Princess Beatrice reportedly took 17 holidays.The Crown Prosecution Service, whose jurisdiction extends across England and Wales, defines misconduct in public office as “serious willful abuse or neglect of the power or responsibilities of the public office held.” To convict, there must be a direct link between the misconduct and an abuse of those responsibilities. The acts under scrutiny must be “without reasonable excuse of justification.”Misconduct in public office is a common law crime that has been shaped by centuries of precedent rather than created by Parliament. If the erstwhile prince is charged, the case would be captioned “The King v Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor” and be tried in crown courts, the top tier venue for the most serious crimes. Only about a dozen such convictions under this law are secured every year.The crime that now threatens Messrs. Mountbatten-Windsor and Mandelson is itself under constitutional attack. The Law Commission, an independent body that describes itself as “created in 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and recommend reform where needed” recommends splitting the crime into two offenses — corruption in public office and breach of duty in public office.The Crown Prosecution Service explains that misconduct in public office “should be strictly confined” — meaning charged only rarely — because it “can raise complex and sometimes sensitive issues.” In language that Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor is likely to lean on, the CPS explains that a “vague notion of ‘influence’ arising from the office held is not sufficient.” However, “whether or not the suspect was ‘on duty’ at the relevant time is not determinative. The power and authority vested in an office may be continuous.”A former prime minister, Gordon Brown, has called for an investigation into whether Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor used taxpayer-funded jets and Royal Air Force (RAF) bases to meet Epstein. The Epstein files contain emails from a sender identified as “the Duke” that contain reports from overseas trade missions. One such dossier is labeled a “confidential brief.” Some of the materials forwarded to Epstein appear to contain “visit reports” from Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen.Noticeably absent from the growing legal case against Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor are allegations of sexual, as opposed to fiscal, impropriety. An alleged former victim of Epstein, Virginia Giuffree, has accused the former prince of having sex with her when she was underage. She alleges encounters at age 17 in New York and London, where the age of consent is 17 and 16 respectively. Under federal sex trafficking statutes, 17 could be considered underage. Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor settled that civil case in New York in 2022, albeit without an admission of guilt. Giuffre took her own life last year. He gave an interview to the BBC in 2019 where he said he had no memory of Ms. Giuffre. The interview was so disastrous that it set off the chain of demotions and degradations that hit rock bottom — at least for now — with the arrest. The Epstein files also contain an email from 2001 to Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell from a sender identified as “A,” who asks Ms. Maxwell if she has found “new inappropriate friends” for him to spend time with and have “fun.” Ms. Maxwell is serving a 20 year prison term for sex trafficking in connection with Epstein, who committed suicide in 2019.

Could Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Actually End Up in Prison? How Emails Rather Than Sex Scandals Triggered His Downfall

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