Prince William ducks Epstein shout in Saudi as King Charles caves to police pressure

0:00 Ah Caalarougus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark for Ansis. Prince William faced questions about his disgraced uncle Andrew Mountbatten Windsor while in Saudi Arabia. The Prince of Wales was attending a girl's football training session, usually a nice William as Soccer Dad photo op, when a reporter called out to him from a distance, asking Sir, to what extent do you think the royal family has done enough around the Andrew and Epstein's scandal. William did not respond, and it was unclear whether he heard the question, which is being generous. The moment came a day after King Charles made an extraordinary intervention in the growing controversy surrounding his brother. In a rare public move, the King said he would assess the public in any investigation. In an unprecedented statement addressing the catalog of allegations against Andrew, the King spoke of his profound concern of ames that his younger brother sexually assaulted a woman at his former Windsor home and that she had been trafficked by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and that Andrew passed confidential information to Epstein while serving as a trade envoy. Thames Valley Police has confirmed it is assessing both claims after Andrew's name appeared repeatedly in the last tranch of millions of documents released by US investigators examining Epstein's crimes. Buckingham Palace is understood to be prepared

1:30 to hand over any documents relating to Andrew's personal engagements, guests he may have taken to royal residences or correspondence sent from a royal email address. Andrew has previously denied any wrongdoing. Normally, William's regular bloke photo ops work well, but they seemed turned deaf on Tuesday, while newspapers raised with headlines along the lines of can the monarchy survive? William was photographed playing video games. Prince William was attending an e sports tournament at the specially built se F Arena, where he went head to head with his host, Prince faisal Bin bandhab Bin Sultan Alsaald, the chairman of the Saudi es Sports Federation, in a game of Rocket League.

2:16 The Prince showed off his gaming skills on his final engagement in Riad this afternoon, though He readily admitted defeat after saying I have no idea what I'm doing. As he took his seat, the Prince of Wales told his teammate Abdullah Matib, I have no idea what I'm doing. You'll have to show me. The match began moments later, with William steering his blue buggy around the virtual stadium while his opponents capitalized on an early chance to score. The first game ended with the Saudi side winning three to two, followed by a second match that finished two to one to the hosts. The Prince did not score in either game, but played his role by repeatedly ramming opponents as they pressed towards his goal. Abdullah, aged twenty four, said afterwards he was very good. He shook my hands afterwards and said very nice to play with you. I am very proud on the winning team. Armored. Abdullah aged twenty three, said it was very fun to play with both princes. Wasn't easily actually, Prince William was a good opponent and it was very close. It was my pleasure to play with them and meet Prince William. Our royal inside a deep crown tells us one rather hesitates to criticize the Prince of Wales, who has proven remarkably adept at navigating the modern media landscape. But this was an unfortunate misstep. On an ordinary Tuesday, photographs of William gaming with Saudi Royalty would have charmed the younger demographics and demonstrated the monarchy's contemporary relevance. But timing, as they say, is everything. On a day when the monarchy's very future

3:47 is being debated, the image of William losing that rocket League while the Kingdom metaphorically burns, does rather reinforce the critics narrative. Sometimes what plays brilliantly on most days simply cannot overcome the weight of a particularly unfortunate news cycle. For Sky News, rhiannon Mills says, do not underestimate how significant it is that King Charles' statement was released just a matter of hours after Prince William had landed in Saudi Arabian. Usually there's an unwritten rule that nothing should ever overshadow an important diplomatic visit like this, but there was a sense in the Palace that something had shifted over the weekend in terms of the allegations against Andrew Mountbatten, Windsor and no response wasn't an option. Royal editor Russell Meyers pointed out the reference to mister Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, saying it underscores that Andrew is now regarded as a private citizen, a clear message that Andrew is no longer being shorted by the Institution for itv X Chris ship writes, what we learn on this visit in Riard is that right now the work of the Royal family is being seen solely through the prism of the Epstein files and the allegations swirling around Andrew Mountbatten. And that is true even when an official overseas visit is this big for Prince William and for the British government. But perhaps this is one occasion when keep calm and carry on won't cut the mustard. To say the two statements from the two palaces on Monday were unusual would be to commit a journalistic crime of understatement. Firstly, at the start of

5:21 his own trip, the Prince's team were forced to clarify William and Kate's position on the Andrew issue. It made breaking news headlines even before William's plane had touched down in Riard. As the Prince and Princess of Wales have never before made a public statement about the claims surrounding William's uncle, But even that moment was blown out of the water by the second royal statement of the day, this one from Palace h Q, Buckingham Palace and approved by King Charles. And it is worth stopping for a moment to think about what the Palace said. Should the police need to launch a criminal investigation into the actions of the King's younger brother, than we as the institution of monarchy, stand by ready to help. Senior Palace staff acknowledged the good will the King had earned from his decision last year, and it was monumentally difficult to get Andrew to agree to it and run out, and they would rather volunteer to cooperate with the police than risk creating any impression they were being dragged to that position.

6:19 The Royals need to find a way to meet the moment. So far they have been unable to do so. In the Daily Mail, Russell Meyers writes, the truth is the Royals have to get a grip on this. The public clamor for an apology is growing, and for an apology that specifically mentions Andrew. People are rightly growing frustrated at the lack of transparency and accountability at the heart of our establishment. Whether it is the royals, politicians or the church, the truth has to be dragged out of them. Surely our intelligence services had a handle on Epstein and some understanding of what Andrew was up to. His Scotland yard protection officers would keep logs of where he was at all times. Shouldn't those logs be made public? Everyone who was part to any knowledge, it seems, has been afraid to say anything for fear of repercussions. But silence is serving no one. Andrew insists he's done nothing wrong, fine, then let him say so under oath. Let him testify to what he saw, what he knows, what he did.

7:15 If he is innocent, transparency will be his best friend. But Charles can no longer wait for his brother to develop a conscience. The king must go further still. He needs to address the nation on television to make clear this institution will not shelter anyone from accountability, apologize on behalf of the monarchy for the pain cause to victims, even though he personally bears no blame. Only Charles can put out the fire before there's nothing left to save will Palace in just a moment. Soccer Dad William had another photo op meeting with youth football squads in Riata as they took part in training skills at the misk Sports City. The Prince joined the session on the pitching invited to take part in a crossbar challenge, taking three shots with the aim of hitting the bar instead, he scored with all three attempts. Speaking to the players, Prince William said, this is my first time in Saudi Arabia.

8:11 Have any of you ever been to the UK? You know the weather's different, cold and rainy, but you have the sunshine here all the time. Good luck with the football, keep practicing and we'll see you in the World Cup. After a group photographed, one player asked did Princess Kate come with you and responded with a disappointment oh when he said she had not. When told he should bring his family to Saudi Arabia, William replied, they would love it here. Well, you show them how to play football. My children love football, but you guys are another level. I can see you guys will be at the World Cup very soon, and then you're going to make me feel very old. Some senior figures in the United States have suggested it may already be too late to protect the monarchy. Roe Kenna, who sits on the committee examining aspects of the Epstein case, said any Sky News interview, I think this is the most vulnerable the British monarchy has ever ben. They ought to ask the King and Queen questions and maybe this will be the end of the monarchy if they don't have answers, if they're implicated in the Epstein class, it's not a good look for the British monarchy. The King has to answer what he knew what he knew about Andrew, and just stripping Andrew of a title is not enough. Andrew needs to come before our committee and start answering questions. I don't think the appropriate punishment is you no longer get to be prince.

9:25 There's got to be more than that, Royal commentators say. Attention is also turning back to late Queen Elizabeth and her role in protecting Andrew after the first allegations emerged. Royal biographer Tina Brown has argued that the handling over Andrew under the previous reign allowed the situation to worse. An over time, and the crisis is not confined to Britain. In Norway, the monarchy is also under pressure after correspondence between Crown Princess Madame Marie and Epstein appeared in the latest document release. In a statement, Mena Marie said she had the deepest regret for my friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and apologized for the situation that I have put the royal family in, especially the King and Queen. We are covering the Norwegian saga in our sister podcast, Crown and Controversy Norway. Just search for that on whatever app you're using.

10:13 Crown and Controversy Norway. The Norwegian royals have their hands full with the Epstein files turning white hot concurrent with a rape trial involving the son of the Crown Princess. Crown and Controversy Norway wherever you get your podcasts and they have it. If like to email usor address the palasintrig at gmail dot com, please follow us on Spotify and Apple and Facebook and Instagram. We're all over the social media. I'm Mark Francis my thanks to John McDermott this Palace Intrigue. Good terms