'Uncharted territory': British monarchy faces existential risk after Andrew arrest

As bad as the arrest is for the former prince, author Andrew Lownie thinks there is now an existential risk to the House of Windsor and the monarchy itself

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaves Aylsham Police Station. Picture: Reuters/Phil Noble 

“This is bigger than the abdication of Edward VIII and it could bring down the monarchy.” 

Andrew Lownie wrote a book last year that rocketed up the best-seller charts, shining a light on the murky dealings of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.

Lownie’s painstaking work — including several hundred interviews with insiders, classmates, former friends, ex-employees, and British diplomats — revealed in excruciating detail the truth of the endless scandals that have engulfed this hapless pair.

He called the book The rise and fall of the House of York. The house, it turns out, hasn’t so much as fallen, as crumbled.

Andrew’s arrest on Thursday was the latest earthquake to shake it, and Lownie believes the tremors will be felt for months to come. And not just by Mountbatten-Windsor.

I spoke to the author just as the former prince was being driven out of a police station, having been arrested in connection with allegations of misconduct in a public office. He was released without charge, pending further inquiries.

“There has been nothing bigger in modern royal history,” said Lownie. 

“This is alleged corruption and sexual misdemeanour at the heart of the royal family."

As bad as the arrest is for the former prince, Lownie thinks there is now an existential risk to the House of Windsor and the monarchy itself.

“We are in uncharted territory here. What is certain is that this is the end of the old style monarchy and the beginning of a new monarchy. This is a huge, huge break point.” 

Andrew’s arrest on Thursday was the latest earthquake to shake it, and Lownie believes the tremors will be felt for months to come. And not just by Mountbatten-Windsor. Picture: Nicholas T Ansell

Comparisons have been made with the abdication of Britain's King Edward VIII in December 1936 after his refusal to give up his divorced American lover Wallis Simpson. 

But Lownie believes the events of the last 24 hours will have much greater importance.

“This is far, far bigger than the abdication. They got rid of Edward very quickly and quietly. This could bring down Charles if he is not careful.” 

So where does Britain's King Charles come into this story now? 

Apart from the embarrassment of his brother’s arrest, what are the implications for him and his reign?

Lownie believes this is now a story of who knew what and when. And what did they do with that information? 

Birthday surprise

The police have stated that Jeffrey Epstein’s plane flew into British airports — including Stansted, Luton, Birmingham ,and Edinburgh — no fewer than 90 times.

I have been told by senior police that, while Epstein was not on board on all 90 occasions, detectives believe girls and young women were, for the purposes of sex trafficking.

Meanwhile, there are now nine police forces across Britain investigating the Epstein files.

“If Charles is seen to have been complicit about covering up for Andrew, then that is going to be very, very difficult indeed,” added Lownie. 

There are serious questions to be answered. I raise some of them in my book. This is now very serious for the monarchy

The news of the arrest was a bombshell, coming as it did on Andrew’s 66th birthday, where he had just spent the night in his new home, a much smaller property, Wood Farm, on the Sandringham estate. 

It’s being paid for, of course, by his brother, King Charles III.

“I was surprised by the speed of the arrest,” added Lownie. 

“I didn’t expect it to be so quick. I thought they might wait a bit longer, but they went for it. They went for him.

“We will have to wait and see if they decide to bring charges. We just have to take it day by day.” 

So, given what Lownie found out about Mountbatten-Windsor and his love of the high-life while researching his book, how does he think the former Duke of York will have found the experience of getting arrested not long after dawn on his birthday? 

Members of the media are pictured camped out at an entrance to Wood Farm on the royal family's Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England, on  Thursday where former prince Andrew was arrested earlier in the day. Picture: Justin Tallis / AFP via Getty

It has been said that neither the prime minister nor the king were informed in advance of the dramatic swoop.

“Andrew won’t have been happy,” said Lownie. 

“He is a man who likes his things, his teddy bears, his stuff. And I think he will have been very lonely in that police station.” 

The former prince’s life imploded after that car crash of an interview with Emily Maitlis on the BBC in November 2019.

One wonders how he will have got through a day of interviews with senior police detectives? 

And you get the impression they will have had longer to prepare their questions than a TV presenter had.

“It’s just a huge fall from grace,” added Lownie. 

He thought he was protected, invincible, unassailable. And he found out that he isn’t any more. It will have come as a huge shock to him

“It may well be the case that this goes to a trial and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ends up in a prison cell. This really is a huge story.” 

The former prince has always denied any wrongdoing with regard to his friendship with the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

He has also resisted all attempts to get him to co-operate with the authorities on both sides of the Atlantic.

When US congressmen wrote to him back in the autumn requesting that he travel to the States and testify about what he knew about Epstein and his operation, Andrew didn’t even respond. Now, it seems he will have no option but to talk.

That relationship has landed Andrew in a police cell, the first member of the British royal family to be arrested in nearly 400 years.

Other police investigations are gathering pace, so there will undoubtedly be more headlines to come.

Lownie is already working on a second book. 

Given the way things are going, he may well end up calling this next one The rise and fall of the House of Windsor.