LATIKA M BOURKE: How Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest could rewrite the Queen’s legacy

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor looked half-dead, a ghoul, as he laid back in the car after his birthday date with British police.

He was arrested on suspicion of public misconduct following the release of the Epstein files, which not only opened up new questions about his sexual activity but showed he was allegedly forwarding confidential information to Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile, while British Trade Envoy.

You have to search very hard in the UK to find anyone who has encountered Andrew over the years who has a good word to say about him. “Arrogant”, “stupid”, “entitled” are frequent descriptors that come up.

It is the failure to check those characteristics over decades have taken the monarchy into uncharted territory. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been stripped of his title and has not been a working royal for years, but the royal family cannot hide from the overdue reckoning his arrest brings.

It is a reckoning that is only coming about because of the titanic bravery of one woman, Virginia Roberts Giuffre who said she was trafficked by Ghislaine Maxwell to Prince Andrew in London when she was 17.

The former prince’s attempts to discredit her ranged from bluster to the outrageous, including that he couldn’t have been dancing at a nightclub with her as she recalled, because he did not sweat.

He also claimed to have been dining at a Pizza Express in Woking just outside London on the night she accused him of having sex with her.

Her proof was a photograph of herself, Andrew with his arm around her waist and Maxwell. Andrew, in the infamous BBC interview, tried to claim that the photo may have been doctored.

Yet the files released in January show Maxwell writing an email confirming the image was taken.

Ms Giuffre suicided last year, and it is another chapter in her continued tragedy that she is not alive to see the results of her bravery, finally coming into fruition, following the US Congress’ decision to force the release of the Epstein files.

Those documents are an inventory of depravity. They reveal elites behaving as though the rules didn’t matter. And that’s because they didn’t. Until now.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s legal fate is unclear. There will be pressure for him to testify before Congress. He may face prosecution in the UK. Neither of these things may happen but there is no redemption possible for him.

But that should not be the end. His behaviour was tolerated for years. It is why he kept up his association with Epstein after his conviction. He evidently never feared that it would catch up with him.

And why would he think any differently. It never did.

Not while his mother, Queen Elizabeth II was alive. She allowed him a prominent role at Prince Philip’s funeral in 2022, this was after then-Prince Andrew paid a sum, reported to be worth £12 million ($23m), to Ms Giuffre, despite claiming he had never met her — a claim Maxwell’s own emails debunk.

The British press has reported that he was loaned this money by his parents and his brother Prince Charles, the future king.

Queen Elizabeth’s judgement went unquestioned at the time. It was and remains unfashionable to criticise her.

King Charles has acted where his mother did not, stripping his brother of his titles and evicting him from his London royal lodgings.

But this only happened late last year as it became clear the Epstein files would be released in the US — three years after Charles became the monarch.

Following Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, the King gave his first and only statement about his brother.

“I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office,” the King 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.

“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course.

“As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”

They are the right words. Many will rush to say how tremendous a reflection it is on the British system that a royal is not above the law.

But it was the Congress’ action in releasing the files that has triggered this course of events. It was not the result of any actions from the royal family, and arguably, the late Queen protected her son when she should not have.

A new line must be drawn on the public scrutiny of the royal family. Calls to Palace media team go unanswered, the royals rarely do interviews and it is forbidden for anyone to talk on the record about what they discuss with the monarch.

This has long been a farce but one the British public, and by extension the countries where the King is head of state including Australia, Canada and New Zealand accept.

As Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested, the King proceeded with a visit to 180 Strand opposite Australia House in central London to open fashion week.

Queen Camilla posted a photo of herself meeting Vogue doyenne Anna Wintour.

“On the first day of #LondonFashionWeek, Dame Anna Wintour met The Queen at Clarence House to discuss British fashion and the work of The Queen’s Reading Room, a charity dedicated to promoting and celebrating the benefits of reading,” the royal family’s social media accounts posted.

It was a tin-eared attempt to portray business as usual. The image of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, the life sucked out of him, shows this is no situation normal.

Ultimately, the royal family has shown itself to be incapable of self-regulating, it should not be given further free passes when it comes to public accountability.