Thank God the late Queen isn't here to witness monarchy's lowest moment

By Hannah Furness.

Shortly after breakfast on his 66th birthday, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor faced the knock at his door he hoped would never come.

It was the police.

Elizabeth II's son, the King's brother, was taken into custody in an unmarked police car, steeling himself to face the first serious questions of his life.

He was arrested by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following the release of files appearing to show that he passed confidential documents to Jeffrey Epstein during his time as a British trade envoy.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has already faced the disgrace of losing his public role, title and royal home. It is now no leap to imagine that he could face jail.

It is the lowest moment for the monarchy in almost 400 years. No divorce, no departure, no extramarital dalliances of old come close. Even the abdication – so scandalous in its day – pales before the vision of a man born a prince and now in a police station.

Trusted by his late mother, partially protected until recently by his eldest brother, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor now faces lonely hours in the company of Thames Valley Police.

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Royalists across the land will have had the same thought – thank goodness the late Queen is not here to see it.

It has been 15 years since the then-prince made that fateful trip to New York to stay with Epstein, in which he claimed to be saying farewell to the convicted sex offender but is now known to have done anything but.

There have been denials, alibis and PR battles, a wall of bureaucracy blocking the documents relating to his time as a trade envoy from the public domain.

Now, with a growing body of written evidence in the Epstein files, politicians have called for scrutiny and police have finally moved.

It was the King who seemed to give the tacit green light. In a statement issued last week, he expressed his "profound concern" about his brother's conduct and said the palace would support any police investigation.

The Prince of Wales, who signed off on a statement of "deep concern" and sympathy with Epstein's victims last week too, has long sought to distance his uncle from the Royal family.

Sarah Ferguson has not been seen for weeks. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are said to be devastated and, like their father, have switched off the news under the barrage of public opinion.

It will be a strange and lonely birthday.

Once a Falklands War hero and a poster boy for princes, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor will have heard the same words as anyone else being arrested: "You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court."

He will have the right to a duty solicitor; police may take photographs and fingerprints.

For the first time since his ill-fated Newsnight interview, he will face questions about his relationship with Epstein and the information he passed on via email.

Then, the interview was conducted at Buckingham Palace. Now, it will be at a police station.

The King, in a statement issued in the hours after the arrest, said "the law must take its course".

In the message, signed Charles R in a format usually reserved for letters to charity patronages and missives to overseas heads of state, he said: "What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities.

"In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation."

It is almost unimaginable that we have come to this. The King has done what he can to separate man and monarchy.

After a lifetime of being supported, believed, trusted and protected, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor now stands alone to face the questions he must have known were coming.

© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2026

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