Response shifts as Andrew faces scandal

AS SORDID allegations engulfed Prince Andrew, the middle of her three sons, Queen Elizabeth displayed the eternal hope of a mother. Charles, heir to the throne, showed the cold impatience of a sibling. And William, the embarrassed dismay of a nephew.

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THE arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor confronts King Charles's realm with the extraordinary spectacle of the Crown prosecuting one of its own. | AFP

Countless families deal with a difficult relative. In the House of Windsor, he was the not-so-grand Duke of York — now reduced to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after being stripped of his royal titles over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew has long been a thorn in the royal family’s side as he denied allegations of sexual misconduct, and yet again and again new evidence revealed his ties to Epstein were far closer and went on far longer than he admitted.

But the three generations of the royal family each confronted the challenge differently, reflecting their personal stake in Andrew's downward spiral.

Last week, after Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested in connection with potential misconduct during his time as a trade envoy, King Charles Ill issued a terse, first-person statement — extremely rare for a British monarch. “Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,” Charles said.

It was a clear move to place institutional distance between the monarchy and his beleaguered brother who, if charged with a crime, would present his brother’s realm with the extraordinary spectacle of the Crown prosecuting one of its own.

Royal commentator Craig Prescott saw the moment as emblematic of a broader shift. “Charles didn’t prevaricate about this. His statement was released very quickly,” Prescott said, adding: “You get the sense that William would have gone much further, much earlier.”

Each generation, in other words, has less and less tolerance for Windsor's wayward son.

The late Queen Elizabeth II, by contrast, moved with characteristic restraint. Andrew had always insisted no wrongdoing, but the horizon has been darkening for years.