Arrest of former prince: crown in crisis?
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of British King Charles III, was taken into custody and questioned by police for about 12 hours on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He is accused of passing confidential documents to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as UK trade envoy. Sexual offences are not mentioned in the official statement on the arrest of the former prince, who has been implicated in the Epstein scandal.
Monarchies have more than nine lives
The trial against Andrew may damage the House of Windsor, but it won't destroy it, Expressen is – almost – certain:
“King Charles is doing his duty by defending the reputation of the royal family and salvaging what he can. Some warn that the monarchy could collapse as a result of the mega-scandal, but it will undoubtedly survive in some form, although perhaps losing some of its lustre in the process. However, royal families don't have just nine lives, but an infinite number of lives. When one generation fails, the next is already waiting in the wings – younger, more modern and more attractive, with cute kids. On the other hand, who could have guessed that one of Queen Elizabeth's sons would one day be arrested by the police at dawn?”
Driven by sense of entitlement
The members of various royal families who have been implicated in the Epstein scandal wanted to secretly exercise lost aristocratic privileges, the Tages-Anzeiger criticises:
“What did the aristocrats want from Jeffrey Epstein? ... For centuries, monarchs surrounded themselves with influential men in order to secure their crown. Today, a parliament can instantly make any monarchy in Europe history. Royals are better off appearing humble in public. But Epstein gave them the chance to exercise aristocratic privileges in secret. To holiday on private islands. Or to take what they believed they were entitled to.”
Structurally weakened
The British monarchy has weakened itself, historian Catherine Marshall observes in Le Monde:
“The implications extend far beyond the individual case of a compromised prince. The British monarchy has been structurally weakened. On the one hand because the Queen herself advocated a strategy that is incompatible with the institution's requirement to set an example – and thus tacitly accepted her son's guilt. On the other because the current king's reaction comes after more than a decade of denial. The case reveals a closed circle in which the boundaries between public service, private interests and family loyalties are dangerously blurred.”
This uncle is no threat to the family
The royal family has nothing to fear because it clearly distanced itself from Andrew, writes The Independent:
“A 'wicked uncle' figure, in royal history down the centuries, has often caused public embarrassment but never inflicted fatal damage on the central royal brand. And many ordinary families know what it is to have a foolish, wanton or downright repulsive relative - and have faced the problem of knowing when to cut them off. ...However bad the details might be that emerge from the Pandora's box of misdoings, placing the former prince in the category of outcast will insulate the King - and his heirs - from the fallout and allow the succession and reinvention of the crown to continue.”
About justice for the victims
For De Morgen, the arrest offers hope that justice can prevail:
“It puts an end to the 'old boys' network' that often prevails in higher circles. It's about coffers that can no longer remained sealed, but are being broken open with a crowbar. ... This has nothing to do with cheap gloating over the fall of a prince. It's about justice for the victims. About young women who for years were the playthings of an elite that considered itself untouchable. If even the brother of a reigning king can end up in prison, then we can dare to see this as a small glimmer of hope.”