Feb. 23, 2026

"THE ARREST OF A PRINCE: HOW JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S SHADOW FINALLY CAUGHT THE KING'S BROTHER"

Show Notes
Transcript

Reid Carter covers the biggest royal scandal in four centuries. Thursday, February 19th: British police arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor - formerly Prince Andrew - on his 66th birthday at the King's private estate. Held for 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Emails show he forwarded confidential British trade reports to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein within five minutes of receiving them. King Charles said "the law must take its course." Virginia Giuffre's family said "he was never a prince." Police still searching his 30-room former mansion. Government considering removing him from line of succession. First royal arrest since 1649.

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Caalaruga shark media. Good morning, I'm read Carter. Monday February

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twenty third, twenty twenty six, Thursday morning, eight am. The

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Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England, King Charles the Third's private

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country retreat, twenty thousand acres of rolling countryside, the kind

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of place where royals shoot pheasants and pretend the twenty

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first century doesn't exist. Police vehicles rolled through the gates

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Thames Valley. Police detectives walked up to wood Farm, a

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modest cottage on the estate grounds. Knocked on the door.

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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor answered, sixty six years old. It was

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his birthday, Happy birthday. You are under arrest on suspicion

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of misconduct in public office. The brother of the King

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of England. Arrested, handcuffed, driven fifty miles to Aylsham police station.

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Booked like a common criminal, finger printed, photographed, placed in

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a cell for eleven hours. Detectives questioned him about emails

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confidential British government documents he allegedly forwarded to convicted sex

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offender Jeffrey Epstein while serving as the United Kingdom's Special

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Trade Envoy. Documents about investment opportunities in Hong Kong, Vietnam,

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Singapore and Afghanistan forwarded within five minutes of receiving them

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to a man already convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor.

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Eleven hours later, around seven p m. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor

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was released under investigation. Photographed slouched in the back seat

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of a chauffeur driven car, stunned expression, hands clasped. The

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image went worldwide, every front page, every news broadcast, every continent.

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The last time British authorities arrested a member of the

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royal family was sixteen forty nine King Charles the First

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that ended with a beheading and the temporary abolition of

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the monarchy. This time, King Charles the Third released a

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statement about his own brother. The law must take its course, cold, calculated, necessary.

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I'm read Carter today, the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor,

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the emails that brought him down, the woman who died

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fighting for justice, and the question the British government is

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now asking, should the King's brother be removed from the

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line of succession entirely? This is celebrity trials, the fall

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of Prince Andrew. To understand how a prince ends up

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in a police station on his birthday. You need to

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understand the fall, and the fall has been happening for years,

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slowly than all at once. Andrew Albert Christian Edward mount

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Batten Windsor born February nineteenth, nineteen sixty third child and

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second son of Queen Elizabeth the Second and Prince Philip,

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the Favorite, the dashing One, the war hero. Flew helicopters

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in the Falklands War in nineteen eighty two, came home

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to cheering crowds. Married Sarah Ferguson in nineteen eighty six.

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Two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie. Divorced in nineteen ninety six,

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but remained close lived together off and on for decades.

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He was the playboy Prince, the one who liked parties,

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liked money, liked powerful friends, and sometime in the late

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nineteen nineties, through British socialite Gislaine Maxwell, Andrew became friends

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with Jeffrey Epstein. Jeffrey Epstein, American financier convicted sex offender,

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ran a trafficking ring that abused dozens of underage girls.

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We covered Epstein extensively on this show. His arrest, Maxwell's

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conviction all of it. Andrew and Epstein were photographed together

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multiple times New York, London, Epstein's ranch in New Mexico,

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Epstein's private island in the Caribbean. Andrew was a regular guest,

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a close friend, part of the inner circle. Epstein pleaded

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guilty to soliciting prostitution from a miner in Florida, served

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thirteen months registered as a sex offender. Any reasonable person

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would have cut ties immediately. The man was a convicted predator.

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Andrew didn't cut ties. He was photographed walking with Epstein

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in Central Park in December twenty ten, two years after

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Epstein's conviction. Video footage showed Epstein leaving Andrew's residence in London.

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The friendship continued openly, and now we know why, because

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the emails tell us. January thirtieth, twenty twenty six, the

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United States Department of Justice released its final tranch of

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Epstein files, three and a half million documents, among them

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emails between Andrew and Epstein from twenty ten and twenty eleven.

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Here's what they show. October twenty ten, Andrew was serving

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as the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment,

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a fancy title for Trade Envoy. He'd held the position

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since two thousand and one. His job travel the world

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promote British business, meet foreign leaders identify investment opportunities. That October,

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Andrew traveled to Hong Kong, Shenzen in China, Vietnam and Singapore.

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Official government business meetings with foreign officials, trade discussions, all

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documented in confidential visit reports prepared by his special advisor,

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A Meet Patel. November thirtieth, twenty ten, Patel emailed Andrew

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the visit reports four documents Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shenzen,

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confidential government assessments of trade opportunities. Five minutes later, Andrew

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forwarded them to Jeffrey Epstein five minutes. Didn't even read

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them first, just hit forward. Sent classified British government intelligence

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directly to a convicted sex offender. No accompanying message, no context,

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Just here are the confidential reports from my government trade missions.

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Do what you will. Then it got worse. Christmas Eve

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twenty ten, Andrew emailed Epstein again. This time he included

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what he described as a confidential brief produced by the

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provincial reconstruction team in Hellman Province for international investment opportunities Afghanistan,

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where British soldiers were fighting and dying. Andrew was sharing

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classified military reconstruction intelligence with a convicted pedophile. In that email,

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Andrew wrote, he would be very interested in your comments, views,

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or ideas as to whom I could also usefully show

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this to attract some interest translation, help me find investors

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for Afghanistan. Use your contacts leverage this classified information I

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just handed you. February twenty eleven, Andrew told Epstein he'd

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visited a private equity firm the previous week and thought

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of you, noting the financier was looking for somewhere for

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money to go. This wasn't casual friendship. This was a

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business relationship. Andrew was feeding Epstein confidential government intelligence so

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Epstein could profit from it. And Epstein was already a

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convicted sex offender at this point. British government guidance is explicit.

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Trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality regarding sensitive commercial

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or political information obtained during official visits. That duty continues

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after leaving the role. The Official Secrets Acts of nineteen

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eleven and nineteen eighty nine apply. Andrew wasn't just being friendly.

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He was potentially breaking the law, and those emails sat

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in Epstein's files for fifteen years until the Justice Department

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released them. February ninth, twenty twenty six, the emails became public.

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Ram Smith, chief executive of Republic, a British anti monarchy group,

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filed a criminal complaint with Thames Valley Police alleged misconduct

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in public office and breach of official secrets. Same day,

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Thames Valley Police confirmed they were assessing the information in

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line with established procedures. Ten days later, they arrested him

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on his birthday at the King's estate in front of

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the world. Make it make sense. A prince, a war hero,

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the queen's favorite son, sharing classified government intelligence with a

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convicted sex offender for years while the man was abusing children,

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while victims were suffering, while the whole world was watching,

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and nobody stopped him until an anti monarchy activist filed

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a police report in twenty twenty six. Your tax dollars

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at work, or in this case, the British taxpayer's pounds.

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The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor cannot be told without

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telling the story of the woman who fought hardest for accountability,

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the woman who didn't live to see it. Virginia Roberts

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Geoffrey born August ninth, nineteen eighty three, Sacramento, California. Moved

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to Florida as a child. Troubled home, molested by a

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family friend starting at age seven, runaway, vulnerable, exactly the

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kind of girl Jeffrey Epstein and Gislaine Maxwell targeted. In

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two thousand, Geoffrey was working as a SPA attendant at

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Marra A Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. She was seventeen.

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Maxwell approached her offered her a job as a messuse

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for a wealthy man. That man was Jeffrey Epstein. What

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followed was years of sexual abuse, trafficking, exploitation. Geoffrey alleged

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she was trafficked to powerful men around the world. One

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of them, she said, was Prince Andrew. Geoffrey claimed Epstein

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and Maxwell trafficked her to Andrew on three occasions when

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she was seventeen years old. A photograph now infamous shows

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a young Jeoffrey standing next to Andrew, his arm around

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her bare waist, Maxwell smiling in the background. Andrew denied

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it categorically in a catastrophic twenty nineteen interview with BBC newsnight.

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He claimed he couldn't have been with Geoffrey on the

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night she described because he was at a pizza express

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in Woking with his daughter Beatrice. Said he couldn't sweat

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because of a medical condition caused by an adrenaline overdose

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during the Falklands War. Said the photo might have been doctored.

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The interview was a disaster. Public opinion turned against him overnight.

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He stepped back from royal duties, but he wasn't arrested,

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wasn't charged, wasn't punished. Geoffrey filed a federal lawsuit in

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New York alleged Andrew sexually abused her when she was

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a miner. Andrew fought it, then settled in February twenty

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twenty two for an undisclosed sun reported to be around

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twelve million pounds. Admitted no liability. Paid to make it

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go away. His military titles were stripped, his royal patronages removed,

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but he kept his prince title, kept living in the

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thirty room Royal Lodge on the Windsor estate, kept his

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place in the line of succession. Geofrey kept fighting for

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herself For other survivors, she became the most prominent voice

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against Epstein and his enablers, gave testimony that helped convict

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Gislaine Maxwell, spoke publicly about the trauma, wrote a memoir,

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but the trauma never stopped. April twenty fifth, twenty twenty five,

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Virginia Geoffrey was found dead at her farmhouse in near Gabby,

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Western Australia. She was forty one years old. Her family

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confirmed she died by suicide. She lost her life to

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suicide after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and

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sex trafficking. Her family said Virginia was a fierce warrior

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in the fight against sectionual abuse and sex trafficking. She

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was the light that lifted so many survivors. Forty one

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years old, three children, decades of trauma from childhood, sexual

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abuse by some of the most powerful men in the world,

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legal battles that consumed her life, public scrutiny that never stopped,

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and in the end it was too much. Her lawyer

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said it was a complete shock, no warning signs, no indication.

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She was considering it just gone. Then ten months later,

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British police arrested Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the man Geoffrey had accused,

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the man who paid her twelve million pounds to stop

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talking the man who was never charged for what she

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alleged he did to her. Her family released a statement.

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At last today, our broken hearts have been lifted at

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the news that no one is above the law, not

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even royalty. He was never a prince. For survivors everywhere

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Virginia did this for you. He was never a prince.

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Five words devastating. Let me be clear about what Thursday's

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arrest was for. It was not for the sexual abuse allegations.

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Thames Valley Police said they are separately reviewing allegations that

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a woman was trafficked to the United Kingdom by Epstein

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to have a sexual encounter with Andrew. But Thursday's arrest

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was specifically about misconduct in public office sharing classified documents

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with Epstein. The sexual abuse investigation is ongoing separately. The

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arrest may have been about emails, but the emails exist

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because of the relationship, and the relationship existed because Andrew

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chose to be friends with a sex trafficker. Everything connects.

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Virginia Geuffrey should be alive today, should be watching the

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man she accused get arrested, should be seeing justice unfold instead.

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Her siblings released a statement on her behalf because the

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system took too long. Because powerful people are protected until

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they can't be anymore. Someone has to say her name.

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Virginia Giuffrey, forty one years old, mother, survivor, fighter. She

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didn't live to see the arrest, but she made it happen.

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We'll be right back with what happens next. Police still

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searching Andrew's thirty room mansion. The British government considering removing

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him from the line of succession and a potential criminal

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trial that would be listed as the king versus his

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own brother. Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm reed. Carter

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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was released under investigation Thursday evening. That's

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a specific legal status in British law. It means he

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hasn't been charged, hasn't been cleared. The investigation continues. There's

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no timeline. Could be weeks, could be months, could be years,

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but the investigation is moving fast. Friday morning, police police

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returned to Royal Lodge, Andrew's former thirty room mansion on

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the Windsor estate near London. He'd lived there for decades

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until King Charles evicted him earlier this month. Moved him

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to Wood Farm, a cottage on the Sandringham estate, one

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hundred and fifteen miles away. Searches at Royal Lodge are

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expected to continue through today Monday. Police finished searching wood

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Farm on Thursday. Whatever they found or didn't find at

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his current residence, they're now focused on the place where

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he lived for years, where he had his computers, his files,

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his correspondence. Separately, London's Metropolitan Police is pursuing its own angle.

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On Friday, the Met announced it was contacting former and

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current officers who served as Andrew's close protection detail Royal

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protection officers, the people who accompanied him everywhere, including to

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Epstein's properties. The Met is asking them to consider carefully

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whether anything they saw or heard during that period of

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service may be relevant. Translation, did you see anything while

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protecting this man? Did you watch him meet with Epstein?

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Did you know what was happening? Because if you did

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and said nothing, that's a problem. The Met also confirmed

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its working with American authorities to assess whether London airports,

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including Heathrow, were used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual

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exploitation connected to Epstein. Flight logs, passenger manifests, private jets,

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The investigation is expanding. Multiple British police forces are now

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coordinating within a national group, Thames Valley for the misconduct charges,

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the met for potential trafficking connections, other regional forces assessing

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whether Epstein's private planes landed at smaller airports. This isn't

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one investigation anymore. This is a multi agency operation now

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the legal path forward. The charge misconduct in public office

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is a common law offence in England. It concerns serious

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wilful abuse or neglect of the power or responsibilities of

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the public office. Held maximum sentence life imprisonment life imprisonment

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for sharing classified documents. That's how seriously Britain takes this,

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But legal experts say the charge is notoriously difficult to prove. First,

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prosecutors have to establish that Andrew's role as Trade Envoy

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constituted a public office. He wasn't a civil servant, he

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was a royal appointee. There's no standard definition. Second, they

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have to prove the misconduct was serious and wilful. Did

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Andrew know he was breaking the rules? Did he understand

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the confidential nature of the documents? Was he deliberately undermining

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national security? Or was he just careless and stupid. The

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Crown Prosecution Service that's Britain's version of the District Attorney's office,

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will ultimately decide whether to charge him. They'll apply what's

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called the Code for Crown Prosecutors two parts test is

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there a realistic prospect of conviction based on the evidence,

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and is prosecution in the public interest? The public interest

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part is almost guaranteed. This is the King's brother. The

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whole world is watching. If the evidence is there, they'll

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charge him. And here's the extraordinary thing about British law.

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If Andrew Mountbatten Windsor is formally charged, the case will

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be styled Rex versus mount Batten Windsor Rex Latin for King,

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the King versus his brother, Charles against Andrew. The Crown

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prosecuting the Crown's own blood, a legal, royal, cultural and

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international drama on a scale never seen before. Meanwhile, the

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British government is considering something that hasn't happened since nineteen

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thirty six, removing a royal from the line of succession.

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Despite everything, the stripped titles, the eviction, the arrest, Andrew

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remains eighth in line to the British throne. There is

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zero chance he'd ever become king, but the symbolism matters.

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James Murray, the government's Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said

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the government is considering any further steps that might be

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required and we're not ruling anything out. The last time

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a royal was removed from the line of succession was

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King Edward the Eighth, who abdicated in nineteen thirty six

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to marry American divorcee Wallace Simpson. Parliament changed the law,

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but removing Andrew would require agreement from more than a

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dozen other countries that have the British monarch as head

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of state Canada, Australia, Jamaica, New Zealand. It's complicated, but

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it's being discussed. An overwhelming majority of British citizens support

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removing him. According to polling conducted after the arrest, support

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for the monarchy itself has dropped to fifty one percent,

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down from eighty six percent in nineteen eighty three. King

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Charles has tried to manage the crisis. Stripped Andrew's titles

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in October, evicted him from Royal Lodge in February, released

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a statement supporting the police. Attended London Fashion Week hours

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after the arrest as if nothing happened business as usual.

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The crown endures, but does it. Royal historian Martin Farr

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called this the most serious crisis for the family, certainly

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since Diana said, Andrew has become a liability that could

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fuel abolition movements in Britain and the Commonwealth. The anti

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monarchy group Republic, which filed the original police complaint, says

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membership has increased forty percent since the Queen died in

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twenty twenty two. Their chief executive, Graham Smith, said the

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public attitude toward the monarchy is fundamentally shifting. We're crossing

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the rubicon. Even Prince Harry is caught in the fallout,

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sources told People magazine he's frustrated by the comparisons between

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himself and Andrew. Harry served his country, left voluntarily lost security

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and housing. Andrew was protected for years, allegedly broke the law,

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and still has a place in the line of succession.

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This is what happens when institutions protect their own until

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they can't anymore. Andrew was shielded for decades by his mother,

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by the system, by wealth and privilege, until the emails

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made it impossible. And now the brother of the King

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of England sits at a cottage on a country estate,

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released under investigation, waiting to find out if he'll be

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formally charged, Waiting to find out if the Crown will

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prosecute one of its own. Welcome to justice in Britain.

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Four hundred years since the last royal arrest, and the

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monarchy might not survive this one. Andrew isn't the only

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powerful brit caught in the Epstein web showed he may

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have shared market sensitive information with the Trump administration. The

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Epstein files showed he may have shared market sensitive government

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information with Epstein. During the two thousand and eight financial crisis,

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British police raided two properties linked to Mandelssohn. He resigned

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from the House of Lords. Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced

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calls to resign for appointing him ambassador in the first place.

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Sarah Ferguson, Andrew's ex wife, the former Duchess of York.

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The Epstein files revealed she maintained a long personal correspondence

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with Epstein years after his conviction. In one email from

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twenty ten, she called Epstein a legend and joked, just

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marry me. In another exchange, Epstein suggested she release a

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public statement asserting he was not a pedo, no evidence

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she did so, but the correspondence continued. Ferguson has kept

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silent since the arrest, no public statement. Neither have their daughters,

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Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. The family circle has gone dark.

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The broader investigation is expanding, multiple police forces coordinating nationally,

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flight logs being assessed, airport records examined, protection officers being interviewed.

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The question isn't just what Andrew did, it's what everyone

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around him knew, what the institution knew, how long they

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protected him. Jonathan Dimbleby, a veteran British broadcaster and friend

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of the king, said Andrew has done significant damage for

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the moment to how people see the institution. But he

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argued it's a positive sign that police can act against

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the King's brother without fear or favor. That's the glass

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half full version, the glass half empty version. It took

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fifteen years after Epstein's conviction, seven years after Epstein's death,

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four years after Jeufrey's lawsuit, and an activist filing a

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police report for anyone to arrest Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. The

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system worked eventually, but how many people suffered while the

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system took its time. Donald Trump weighed in from Air

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Force One on Thursday, called the arrest a shame. Said

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I think it's very sad. I think it's so bad

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for the royal family. It's very very sad to me.

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It's a very sad thing. No mention of Epstein, no

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mention of victims, no mention of justice. Just sad for

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the royal family. The family, not the victims, not Virginia Jeffrey,

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not the dozens of women Epstein abused priorities. Spencer Couven,

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an attorney for Epstein's victims, had a different perspective, said

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the arrest may restore some faith for those who believed

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justice was unreachable, that victims of abuse often face disbelief

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and backlash, and the legal process must remain centered on

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survivor's dignity, regardless of the fame, power or wealth of

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a potential perpetrator. Centered on survivor's dignity. That's how it

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should be. That's how it should have been all along.

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That's celebrity trials for Monday, February twenty third, twenty twenty six.

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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew sixty six years old,

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arrested on his birthday at the King's private estate, held

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for eleven hours, released under investigation for misconduct in public office.

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Allegedly shared confidential British government trade intelligence with convicted sex

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offender Jeffrey Epstein. E mails forwarded within five minutes of receipt,

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including classified military reconstruction briefings from Afghanistan. Police still searching

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his thirty room former mansion at Royal Lodge, the met

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contacting his former protection officers. Multiple investigations across multiple police forces.

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Government considering removing him from the line of succession. First

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royal arrests in sixteen forty nine. That one ended with

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a beheading. This one will end in a courtroom. If charged.

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The case will be listed as the King versus Mount

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Batten windsor brother against brother, the Crown against the Crown.

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Virginia Juffrey fought for this for sixteen years. She told

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her story, accused Andrew, accused Maxwell, filed lawsuits, gave testimony,

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wrote a memoir. Died by suicide at forty one, ten

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months before the arrest. Her family said it he was

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never a prince, No, he wasn't. He was a man

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who shared government secrets with a sex trafficker. A man

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who settled a sexual abuse lawsuit for twelve million pounds

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while admitting no liability. A man who told the BBC

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he couldn't sweat and was at pizza Express. The monarchy

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will survive this, probably institutions usually do, but the damage

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is done. Trust is broken. The favorite son turned out

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to be the worst one, and it took an anti

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monarchy activist, three and a half million documents from the

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US Justice Department, and the death of the bravest woman

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in this story for anyone to do anything about it.

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Make it make sense. By the way, if you want

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more on the British and updates on this story every day,

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00:27:02.279 --> 00:27:06.440
check out our sister podcast, Palace Intrigue. That's Palace Intrigue

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00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:11.920
wherever you get your podcasts. I'm read Carter Tomorrow updates

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on Andrew's investigation, plus whatever else breaks. This is Celebrity Trials.