The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office is the highest-profile fallout so far from the release of the Epstein files. But this is not the signal of accountability many assume. Not for the former British prince whose titles were removed last year because of his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And not for the royal family.
Britain’s King Charles III could have done more, much earlier, than let it be known in a statement Thursday that “the law must take its course.” Stripping his brother of his titles arguably cleared the way for police to investigate and arrest him. Such a step also could have been taken years ago.
Britain’s King Charles III could have done more, much earlier, than let it be known in a statement Thursday that “the law must take its course.”
Questions about accountability have been gaining traction in Britain, where the Epstein scandal has been roiling the Labour Party: A former ambassador to the United States, fired in September over his Epstein connections, resigned from the party this month (saying he did not want to “cause further embarrassment” over allegations of payments he says are false) as the release of more Epstein documents intensified scrutiny of those connections; Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff and communications director have also resigned over the former ambassador’s appointment.
Notably, the trigger for Thursday’s arrest and those resignations was not the abuse of women and girls for which Epstein is widely reviled but potential disclosures of confidential information: Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, an issue police confirmed investigating this month after documents among the Justice Department’s massive release in January appeared to indicate that he had shared sensitive information with Epstein during his 10-year stint as a trade envoy for the British government.
The then-prince took an Epstein confidant with him on official travel to Asia in 2010 and allowed Epstein to arrange meetings for him, emails appear to show. Emails also show that he appeared to forward Epstein confidential reports on investment opportunities in Afghanistan. He also shared with Epstein the itinerary for a two-week trip to Hanoi, Saigon, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, according to the emails.
Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in connection to Epstein and has not responded to media requests for comment as documents have become public in recent months. MS NOW requested comment Thursday, after his arrest.
Controversies shadowed the prince’s tenure as trade ambassador, not just for his connections to Epstein but also for his business dealings. The discrepancies between his 2019 claim to have ended his friendship with Epstein and documentation of the men’s continuing contacts sparked outrage in Britain, especially as details emerged last year of the disgraced prince’s largely rent-free arrangement for Royal Lodge, the grand mansion he lived in for more than 20 years.
Which brings us to how the royal family has handled the scandal.
Shortly after photos emerged in the January Epstein release showing a barefoot Mountbatten-Windsor on his knees, hovering over an unidentified woman lying on a floor, he was photographed riding a horse in Windsor Great Park. The juxtaposition of the images and confirmation of the police investigation prompted this Feb. 9 statement from Buckingham Palace:
The king has made clear, in words and unprecedented actions, his profound concern at allegations which continue to come to light in respect of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct. While the specific claims in question are for Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor to address, if we are approached by Thames Valley Police, we stand ready to support them as you would expect. As was previously stated, Their Majesties’ thoughts and sympathies have been, and remain with, the victims of any and all forms of abuse.”
Confirmation that the king would cooperate with authorities investigating his brother was simultaneously an unprecedented development — and a palace-size effort to insulate the rest of the royal family from any Epstein fallout. The king’s October announcement that his brother’s titles were being revoked included similar language about the couple’s “thoughts and utmost sympathies” remaining with “the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
But it’s fair to question the narrative: For years, Mountbatten-Windsor’s royal status allowed him to ignore U.S. officials’ requests for information about Epstein. He long denied any association with Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the most prominent Epstein victim, who died by suicide in 2025. Giuffre said she had been trafficked to the prince three times as a teenager. After emails from Epstein documents indicated last year that Andrew had passed information about Giuffre to his protection officer in 2011, London’s Metropolitan Police said in December that an “assessment has not revealed any additional evidence of criminal acts or misconduct.” Mountbatten-Windsor was removed from public duties over fallout from his 2019 BBC interview about his friendship with Epstein. But he’s lived in his crown-owned mansion and otherwise carried on with his princely life, down to his shooting weekends, until public outrage prompted the king to remove his brother’s titles last year and evict him to … a smaller royal-owned home. While keeping Mountbatten-Windsor out of high-profile events, the royal family mostly carried on as usual. The most direct link tying the king to his brother’s scandal came in a report this month in The Sun, a British tabloid, suggesting Charles had contributed millions to Andrew’s 2022 settlement with Giuffre. In 2021, when Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was accused of having bullied staffers, Buckingham Palace announced an investigation not 24 hours after the media report. No findings were made public, but the key thing is the palace response: announcing an investigation over a single report. Contrast that with months of headlines about Mountbatten-Windsor’s ties to Epstein; messages indicating that the former prince’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, borrowed tens of thousands of dollars from Epstein; and allegations that an Andrew staffer cleared statements with Epstein. And years of questions about a photo that appears to show Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around the waist of a young Virginia Roberts. If the monarch were concerned about victims, or the extent of Epstein connections and activities, then the king could have announced his own inquiry long ago. Such a step would have spoken volumes. “Today, our broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty,” relatives of Virginia Roberts Giuffre said in a statement Thursday. The arrest of the former prince is stunning. But it should not be forgotten that he was arrested on suspicion that he wrongly shared sensitive information with Epstein. There is no indication yet that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will face an investigation regarding Giuffre’s allegations.
Autumn Brewington is a senior opinion editor at MS NOW. A longtime editor at The Washington Post, she oversaw the paper's op-ed page for more than seven years. She also wrote a Post blog and newsletter about the British royal family. She writes about royalty on Substack at http://autumnbrewington.substack.com. 
