Former British prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of the UK’s King Charles II, was released by police on Thursday after being arrested and held for a number of hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his hyperlinks to convicted late American intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who turned 66 the day of his arrest, is the primary British royal in additional than 350 years to be arrested and held in police custody – the final one was King Charles I, who was arrested by parliamentary forces in 1647 and placed on trial for prime treason.
His princely title was revoked final yr over his hyperlinks to Epstein and allegations that the 2 males sexually abused Virginia Giuffre when she was a youngster within the Nineties. The convicted intercourse offender and disgraced financier Epstein died by suicide in a United States jail in 2019 whereas awaiting trial on intercourse trafficking expenses.
In 2021, Giuffre sued Mountbatten-Windsor for sexual assault. She claimed she had been compelled to have intercourse with him on a number of events when she was 17, a minor below US regulation. Giuffre died by suicide in April final yr after reaching a settlement on this case.
When he was nonetheless a prince, Mountbatten-Windsor served because the UK’s commerce envoy from 2001 to 2011, solely stepping down when controversy over his hyperlinks to Epstein intensified. All through his time within the position, he confronted persistent criticism over his “occasion prince” picture, his conduct on abroad journeys, and the price of his lavish taxpayer‑funded journeys and hospitality.
However Mountbatten-Windsor is way from the primary British royal to be engulfed in scandal. In 1936, the monarchy was rocked when King Edward VIII abdicated to marry divorced American Wallis Simpson.
Queen Elizabeth II largely saved the establishment regular within the early a long time of her reign, however as her kids reached maturity, a brand new wave of marital crises and private controversies engulfed the household.
Here’s a nearer take a look at among the main scandals to have roiled the royals and their status in latest a long time.
1992: Queen Elizabeth’s ‘annus horribilis’
Throughout a speech to mark the fortieth anniversary of her accession in November 1992, Queen Elizabeth II described the yr as her “annus horribilis”, which is Latin for “horrible yr”, following a sequence of scandals.
Three of her kids’s marriages had failed: Then‑Prince of Wales – now King – Charles and Princess Diana separated, as did Mountbatten-Windsor and his spouse, Sarah Ferguson. Princess Anne and Mark Phillips obtained divorced.
In August 1992, whereas separated however nonetheless married to Mountbatten-Windsor, Ferguson was photographed on vacation within the south of France along with her American monetary adviser John Bryan. Bryan was seen kissing her toes, a lot to the uproar of most of the people.
The identical yr, a telephone name between Diana and her good friend, James Gilbey, was leaked and have become tabloid fodder. It was believed that the decision had been illegally recorded and bought to the media. The intimate and emotional nature of the decision led to hypothesis that Gilbey and Diana had been greater than associates. On the decision, Gilbey referred to as Diana “Squidgy”, and therefore the incident grew to become referred to as “Squidgygate”.
1993: Camillagate
An finish to the Queen’s “annus horribilis” was to not be.
Quickly after Squidgygate got here “Camillagate”. In 1993, the recording of a salacious telephone name between Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles was leaked. The decision was from 1989 when Charles and Diana had been nonetheless married and revealed that Charles and Camilla had been in an intimate relationship.
Public anger over the affair endured for years, however Charles and Camilla ultimately married in 2005 and stay married at this time, with Camilla now serving as Queen.
1995: Diana’s Panorama interview
Diana was interviewed by journalist Martin Bashir on the BBC programme Panorama that was broadcast on November 20, 1995.
Through the interview, Diana commented on a number of controversies, together with the connection between Charles and Camilla. Concerning the affair, she stated: “There have been three of us on this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” which garnered big public sympathy. She additionally spoke brazenly about her psychological well being struggles – particularly with the situation bulimia nervosa.
Diana’s candid interview opened the lid on life within the royal household, and he or she was extensively seen because the “individuals’s princess” after it was aired.
Following the interview, Queen Elizabeth II really helpful that the couple divorce shortly – the wedding was legally dissolved the next yr.
The circumstances surrounding the interview got here below scrutiny greater than 20 years later when Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, alleged that Bashir had used false paperwork and different dishonest ways to enlist him to steer Diana to do the interview.
The BBC appointed a retired senior decide in 2020 to steer an investigation into the matter. A report from the inquiry stated Bashir used “deceitful behaviour” and breached BBC guidelines by mocking up faux financial institution statements and exhibiting them to Spencer to realize entry to the princess.
In 2021, Princes William and Harry – Diana’s now-grown kids – issued a robust criticism of the BBC and British media for what they referred to as unethical practices after the investigation concluded.
1997: Loss of life of Diana
Two years after the Panorama interview, the princess died aged 36 in a Paris visitors accident as she and a companion had been being pursued by paparazzi photographers.
On August 30, 1997, a gaggle of paparazzi had camped exterior the Ritz lodge in Paris in hopes of acquiring photographs of Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed. The photographers pursued their automotive to the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, the place their driver misplaced management and crashed. Each Diana and Fayed had been killed.
The general public outpouring of grief over Diana’s loss of life contrasted sharply with what was seen as stony silence from the royal household within the quick aftermath. The household, together with the queen, was strongly criticised for not shortly showing in public and failing to decrease the flag over Buckingham Palace to half-staff.
2002: Princess Anne’s felony conviction
In November 2002, Princess Anne, the Queen’s solely daughter, pleaded responsible to dropping management of her canine, an English bull terrier, who then proceeded to chunk two kids in Windsor Nice Park.
Anne was fined and have become the primary working royal in trendy instances to have a felony document.
2005: Prince Harry’s Nazi costume
Photographs of Prince Harry sporting a Nazi armband at a dressing up occasion in 2005 brought on international outrage and compelled him to situation a public apology.
In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Harry claimed that his older brother, the now-Prince of Wales William and his then-girlfriend (now spouse) Kate Middleton had inspired the selection of outfit and “howled” with laughter after they noticed it.
2020: Megxit
After years of rising tensions with the media, Prince Harry and his spouse, the previous actor Meghan Markle – now styled the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – introduced plans to give up their senior royal duties, transfer part-time to North America, search monetary independence and withdraw from common media scrutiny.
The couple believed that Meghan’s lack of recognition within the UK was right down to the principally adverse media protection she acquired from the British press. Rumours had been additionally rife that they clashed with different members of the royal household.
In 2021, the couple appeared on tv with Oprah Winfrey, and Harry revealed a rift along with his father and brother.
Meghan described feeling so remoted and depressing contained in the royal household that she had suicidal ideas and stated a member of the household had voiced “issues” in regards to the color of her unborn little one’s pores and skin. Markle is half Caucasian and half African American.
The member of the family was not Queen Elizabeth II or Prince Philip, Harry clarified, sparking a flurry of hypothesis about who it might be.
2023: Spare
Harry’s memoir, Spare, laid naked intimate household particulars – a lot to the reported horror of the royal household. In a single incident, he claimed, William had knocked him to the ground throughout a 2019 argument over Markle.
In his guide, Harry additionally acknowledged killing 25 people in Afghanistan throughout his time as an Apache helicopter pilot. He had served in Afghanistan first as a ahead air controller in air raids from 2007 to 2008, then flying the assault helicopter between 2012 and 2013.
