February 19, 2026 • 20 mins
UK police have arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of committing misconduct in public office.
It comes after allegations the former prince shared confidential information with former financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when he was a UK trade envoy, a role he held from 2001 to 2011.
Police searched his Sandringham home and former Royal Lodge residence.
He has since been released, after about 12 hours of questioning.
Today on The Front Page, Royal correspondent Gavin Grey joins us from Windsor to break down the latest on this disgraced royal.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Chelsea Daniels
Editor/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Jane Yee
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Kyota.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. UK police
have arrested Andrew Mountbatten Windsor on suspicion of committing misconduct
in public office. It comes after allegations the former prints
(00:26):
shared confidential information with former financier and sex offender Jeffrey
Epstein while he was a UK Trade Envoy, a role
which he held from two thousand and one to twenty eleven.
Police searched his Sandringham home and former Royal Lodge residents today.
He has since been released after about twelve hours of questioning.
(00:50):
Today on the Front Page, Royal correspondent Gavin Gray joins
us from Windsor to break down the latest on this
disgraced royal. First off, Gavin Paint does a picture of
what's happened over there overnight.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
It's been an extraordinary few hours.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
The former Prince Andrew Andrew man Batten Windsor is sixty
six to day. The last thing he expected was some
burly police officers to be banging on the door.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
At eight a m.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
They went there to formally arrest him, take him into custody.
And question him about misconduct in public office.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
What does that mean?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Well, this isn't anything to do with the allegations that
Virginia Jufrei or Virginia Roberts made against him.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
This is that when he was Trade Envoy, which.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Was a sort of unofficial post if you liked Chelsea,
that it was effectively that he saw decisions and paperwork
from this government that had not been made public. The
allegations are that he then told Jeffrey Epstein, the late
disgraced financier, what the government was going to announce.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
And of course, to certain.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Business people that's worth a lot of money. If they
know what the decision is going to be before it's
made and announced, that can be worth a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
The allegations are that.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Andrew was therefore ferrying this information, either knowingly or unknowingly,
to Jeffrey Epstein. He says he's done nothing wrong. Andrew
man Baten Winter says, I have done nothing knowingly wrong.
But plenty of people in this country find it amazing
that that information should.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
If it did, go via email to Epstein.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And we know this all because of the Epstein files,
don't we We do?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
They have released a whole tranche of files.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Of course, and Andrew is in quite a lot of them,
along with his ex wife Sarah Ferguson, and a lot
of very important influential businessmen who have made a lot
of money.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
And that's where all this sort of hooks in together.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Interesting that this arrest should have been made because the
police could had quite certainly contacted Andrew mount Batten Wins
and said, can you, at an agreed time come into
the police station for a chat? And of course we
the media wouldn't have known the first thing about that,
because he would have organized to go in either at
night or you know, when people weren't waiting for something
(03:18):
to happen.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
As it was, the media were.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Outside Sandrum, they had been for several days, and all
of a sudden it exploded. Now Andrew was in custody
for just under twelve hours. He has now returned home.
A picture has surfaced of him trying to what looks
like duck in the back seat of the car that
he's in, looking completely hollowed out.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
This isn't just a come down.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
For somebody that thought he was so important in the
role family. This is a complete, total, utter humiliation and
it could be about to get a lot worse. The
next steps could be the police say thanks for talking
to us, Actually we don't want to talk to you anymore.
The evidence isn't there, or we found evidence that clears you,
(04:03):
or he could be charged, and that would put it
all into a different board game.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It's funny you bring up that photo because I've noticed
that the BBC has been running it almost consistently. You know,
all day to day, that photo, and if you haven't
seen it, you know you'll know it when you see
it kind of thing. This all seems quite unprecedented, is it.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
I think it probably is in modern times. I've been
covering the Roles for over thirty five years, and certainly
nothing's seen anything like it. The only time one can
think of the Royal as any senior member of the
Role family getting into a bit of hot bother was
about twenty years ago, believe it or not, Princess Anne
pleaded guilty to having a dangerous dog as it had
(04:46):
been a member of the public.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
But this is off the scale to what we've got today.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Here are some really serious allegations of national security that
have been made about Andrew, the Queen's most favorite son.
It was recorded eighth in line to the throne, the
King's younger brother. And you know, Chelsea, the amazing thing
is if this goes to court, if then the Crown
(05:13):
Prosecution Service will be prosecuting, and that word.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Crown means the King.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
The people representing the King will be prosecuting Andrew Mann
Batman Windsor if it goes that far. As I said,
he has denied any wrongdoing. But there is a lot
more to this, Chelsea, because something like six to eight
other police forces in the UK are also looking at
other investigations around Jeffrey Epstein, and one of those is
(05:44):
looking at some eighty or nearly ninety flights that came
into the UK or left from the UK in his
private aeroplane, and the concern is that some of those
flights may have been trafficking.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Young women or girls. Of course, did Andrew man Batten
Winsor know about that? He says not.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It's funny you bring up so Andrew is still eighth
in line to the throne. At what point does he
completely get shafted by the royal family.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
I would imagine it's going to be a matter of minutes,
woun't you? But at the moment, officially he is still
in late eighth in line to the throne. I can't
imagine King Charles the Third will allow that for very long.
You know, he stripped him of all the titles, he
has kicked him out of his house. Now we get
these further allegations. What is there left? There's that left
(06:37):
that he's still in the line of succession, believe it
or not. Though it has to go through some legislation
and it has to go through things, so you know,
it may be sometime in the coming but I'm absolutely
sure that they are looking to do that.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Now.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Another thing I think the king is desperate to do.
He was out on official engagements today, meeting and greeting people,
and as he got out the car, people were shouting,
what did you know about Andrew?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
What's your reaction to this?
Speaker 4 (07:04):
That's been commonplace now for the last few months, whenever
he's out and about, and that can't go on.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I don't think that cannot be allowed to go on.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
And so I think we are going to see some
decisive action, and that is why I think the king
has been quite decisive so far. But this is a
situation that is completely new. I think, do you know
what I think the last time a senior member of
the Royle family was detained. We might be looking almost
back to King Charles the first and he.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Was executed absolutely, and I mean in terms of the
eighth in line to the thrown, you know, the likelihood
of him ever becoming close. I mean the average age
of a monarch these days is about one hundred, right,
So I mean it's not but it's largely symbolic, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
In terms of King Charles.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
What has he actually officially said?
Speaker 4 (07:53):
I suppose there was a statement out today and there
were two key bits in it for me, at least
in the middle of it all in its own paragraph
was that phrase no one is above the law. And
I think that's key because that says, Andrew, You're going
to be like anybody else in this process. And I
(08:15):
think that's possibly why the police didn't just say, come
and see us under cover of darkness.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I think that's why there was the big door knock.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Incidentally, it is said that King Charles had no idea
this was going to happen. There are some people who
are doubting that the Home Office, the government department that
looks after the police. They did know beforehand, so it's
interesting that that was there and this tac was taken.
But King Charles has got a very difficult act now,
and that is trying to separate family and monarchy. One
(08:47):
often talks about the royal family, but of course family
is one thing, and you can't.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Do anything about a sister or a brother you don't
particularly like.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
But you can try as he is doing, I think,
and isolate the monarchy from the scandal. Every time the
communications people the royal family think they get ahead of
this Chelsea, it comes up and it overwhelms them again.
And as I said, if this investigation goes on as
I think it will, this could.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Go on for years.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Well you know, i'm the expert in a way, because
I've been totally exonerated. It's very nice I can actually
speak about it very nicely. I think it's a shame.
I think it's very sad. I think it's so bad
for the royal family. It's a very very sad to me.
It's a very sad thing when I see that. It's
a very sad thing to see it and to see
what's going on with his brother who's obviously coming to
(09:40):
our country very soon that he's a fantastic man, the king.
So I think it's a very sad thing. It's really
interesting because nobody used to speak about Epistein when he
was alive, but now they speak. But I'm the one
that can talk about it because I've been totally exonerated.
I did nothing.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Is he ever likely to face I think there is
that possibility. Personally, I think it's unlikely, but it rather depines.
It depends what police find in these searches. So we
know they conducted a search.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
At the current house that Andrew is living in.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Incidentally, it was the house where Prince Philip spent his
last days as well, in the Sandringham estate in East England.
Andrew is waiting to move into a house that's being
done up for him, much much smaller.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
They've been searching there. That search has now concluded.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
There is another search happening not far from here, actually
in Windsor, and that was Andrew's old house, this massive
mansion that he was allowed to live in until eventually
he was told he had to get out, and.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
They are searching that.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
And the reasoning, sidly is because not all of Andrew's
stuff has been moved out, and I am absolutely sure
they'll be looking for computers, computer records, emails, printouts, mobile
phone phone records, all of that to see what that
communication wants between Epstein and Andrew and to see what information,
if any, what documents, if any, might have been passed over.
(11:09):
Now Here is one crucial thought about this toy you, Chelsea.
Here in the UK, we have sacked an ambassador to America,
Lord Mandelson, because of the Epstein files. We have now
had a very close relative of the monarch, somebody in
the royal family arrested. If you can arrest a prince,
(11:31):
could you also arrest a president. Plenty of people are thinking,
what's happening in America? Why haven't any of the businessmen
who were named by the women who said that they
were trafficked? Why haven't they even been talked to? And
is President Trump a squeaky clean in this?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
As he says he is?
Speaker 4 (11:50):
He says, I'm completely exonerated. I've got nothing to hide.
But so much has been redacted in those Epstein files.
People are thinking, is that exactly the case?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
It certainly does seem like the UK is doing far
more than the US in terms of these Epstein files,
I mean that must play quite well for circuits.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Damer, Yes, I think so.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I think it plays probably quite well for the country actually,
and very proud of our legal processes, as of course
New Zealanders as well. And I think it also feeds
into the narrative that King Charles is trying to get
this sorted. You know, he doesn't want to get directly involved,
because he's not a solicitor or a embarrassed anything. But
he's saying, look, treat Andrew as you would anyone else,
(12:37):
and believe in me. These custody suites that Andrew would
have been kept in are not cozy. You know, there
would have been no lap of luxury. And for a
man who's everyone I've spoken to who has worked for
him or knows him, says arrogant, says full of himself,
could be very rude to people. This is some mighty,
(12:58):
mighty come down. What it'll mean for Sarah Ferguson, she's
kind of disappeared anyway, We believe she's in the Middle East.
But what it will mean for the two daughters, Princesses
Eugenie and Beatrice, that's another matter. At the moment, they're
still in the royal family. There are rumors though that
Prince William and Princess Catherine think the whole family, that
(13:22):
side of the family should be I think cut a
drift a bit. It's going to be very very difficult,
very very painful. And that's before we've heard from these
other police services around the UK that have got these
other investigations going on as well.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, it sounds like it could very well become a
lot worse for him. This is the tip of the iceberg.
What's been the reaction of the British public to this news?
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Well, I can't just can't tell you how many camera
crews they were outside Buckingham Palace earlier and probably still are.
This has been a worldwide story. I'd be talking, you
know as well to newsrooms around the world about this.
It has been an amazing thing. And I think part
of it is Andrew has never been that universally popular.
(14:12):
There's that old adage, isn't there be nice to people
on your way up because you might need them on
your way down, And we're seeing somebody that has really
suffered from that, I think and he seems to be
pretty sure of friends at the moment, and people love
that story that here is somebody who had everything, everything
he ever wanted. He probably never washed the plate, you know,
(14:35):
he was somebody who really was born into a massive
life of grace and favor all of a sudden brought
back down to earth with a massive, massive bump. And
even though he's saying nothing to do with me, didn't
do any wrongdoing, et cetera, et cetera, there is just
this snowball effect now, allegation after allegation after allegation, and
(14:59):
that is what is so captivating, Darius said about the story.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And I've seen comments from Virginia Giuffrey's family as well,
And of course you mentioned her before. She's one of
the women at the forefront of the Epstein files and
the Epstein abuse allegations who said that she was raped
by Andrew several times as a minor. They've come out
and said that she, you know, in retrospect, is doing
(15:24):
it for every rape victim around the world. And she
obviously she died of suicide in April last year, but
she died with people still saying that she was making
things up.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Yes, and today still I think further and supporters of
Andrew will probably say, oh, you know, he's done nothing
wrong in this and that, and he denies ever meeting her.
Still still are saying, you know, yes, it was her persistence.
What was it? You know, there there are two of
us here, and we both know the truth, but one
(16:01):
of us is prepared to say it. So I think
was her big quote something along those lines. And here
we are seeing her defiance that she wasn't going to
be quiet. She wasn't going to be kept quiet. And
even though it was very important and very powerful people
Prince Andrew at the time, but also Epstein and a
lot of very senior business people in that upper echelon
(16:23):
circle of Epstein's circle, even though all of those things
that she probably felt terribly isolated at the time. This
is the ripple effect from what she's done. The release
of the Epstein files in particular, has been that. But
as I said, this arrest today was not about any
(16:44):
sexual allegations. This was entirely about the fact that he
was privy to information. But did he then give that
information to other people for whatever reason? And if he has,
that's a very very serious offense and one that people
in this country will not forgive it.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Good he deserves it.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Should have should have been arrested a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Quite frankly, I think just abused his position completely. So yeah,
it's the right thing for the victims.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
I want to see everybody on the files of wrestled,
everybody that was involved with Epstein, everybody else doing anything
illegal and moral. I want them aral wrestled, I want
them more trial.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I think it is good that it's been arrested. It's
good that he's paid for what he's done.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Now, lastly, Gavin, paint me a picture. You've been a
royal correspondent for you said thirty five years. Now, it
doesn't you know you're doing well. It doesn't look like
you've been in the game for that long. But paint
me a picture.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
What happens?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Do you get a text message from a guard something
saying the police are here?
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Do you you know?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
How do you get involved in? How do you know
that these things are happening.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
There are people who have worked for the Royal household,
don't forget lots of palaces, lots of houses. The staff
are very large in number. They are also not very
well paid. Now I'm not pointing to finger any one
member of staff ending but by and large some of
them do you know, meet journalists and get taken out
(18:32):
for dinner and stuff, so there's an element of that.
There's the former staff as well who might not feel
they've been treated very well, and I dare say there
are a few who work directly for Andrew who.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Might feel that way.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
So you get those then of course, yes, people within
the police force, within the security service as well. I
mean it's it is it's contacts, it's having knowing.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Others as well.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
And also I have to say the Royal correspondents are
pretty good at at sort of you know, sharing things
as well occasionally, but it is an extraordinary job. Is
a correspondent one of the most unusual roles, I think,
because you are looking so much at a family, and
of course all families have you know, members who are
(19:21):
slightly odd or slightly get into trouble or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
But you're also looking.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
At a monarchy and the way in which the monarchy
operates is absolutely fascinating. And it was Prince Philip who
called it the firm, you know, like it was a business,
and lots of people said, oh that was that was
not the right thing to say, but in a sense
it is a business and if they lose the support
of the UK people, if they lose the support.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Of the Commonwealth member countries as well, then I think
the game is up.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Thanks for joining us, Kevin.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Lovely to speak to you again, Jelsic, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at enzidherld dot co dot enz The Front Page is
hosted and produced by me Chelsea daniels Kine. Dicky is
our studio operator, Richard Martin, our producer and editor, and
our executive producer.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Is Jane Ye.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Follow the Front Page on the iheartapp or wherever you
get your podcasts, and join us next time for another
look beyond the headlines.
Kyota.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. UK police
have arrested Andrew Mountbatten Windsor on suspicion of committing misconduct
in public office. It comes after allegations the former prints
(00:26):
shared confidential information with former financier and sex offender Jeffrey
Epstein while he was a UK Trade Envoy, a role
which he held from two thousand and one to twenty eleven.
Police searched his Sandringham home and former Royal Lodge residents today.
He has since been released after about twelve hours of questioning.
(00:50):
Today on the Front Page, Royal correspondent Gavin Gray joins
us from Windsor to break down the latest on this
disgraced royal. First off, Gavin Paint does a picture of
what's happened over there overnight.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
It's been an extraordinary few hours.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
The former Prince Andrew Andrew man Batten Windsor is sixty
six to day. The last thing he expected was some
burly police officers to be banging on the door.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
At eight a m.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
They went there to formally arrest him, take him into custody.
And question him about misconduct in public office.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
What does that mean?
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Well, this isn't anything to do with the allegations that
Virginia Jufrei or Virginia Roberts made against him.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
This is that when he was Trade Envoy, which.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Was a sort of unofficial post if you liked Chelsea,
that it was effectively that he saw decisions and paperwork
from this government that had not been made public. The
allegations are that he then told Jeffrey Epstein, the late
disgraced financier, what the government was going to announce.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
And of course, to certain.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Business people that's worth a lot of money. If they
know what the decision is going to be before it's
made and announced, that can be worth a lot of money.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
The allegations are that.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Andrew was therefore ferrying this information, either knowingly or unknowingly,
to Jeffrey Epstein. He says he's done nothing wrong. Andrew
man Baten Winter says, I have done nothing knowingly wrong.
But plenty of people in this country find it amazing
that that information should.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
If it did, go via email to Epstein.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
And we know this all because of the Epstein files,
don't we We do?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
They have released a whole tranche of files.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
Of course, and Andrew is in quite a lot of them,
along with his ex wife Sarah Ferguson, and a lot
of very important influential businessmen who have made a lot
of money.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
And that's where all this sort of hooks in together.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Interesting that this arrest should have been made because the
police could had quite certainly contacted Andrew mount Batten Wins
and said, can you, at an agreed time come into
the police station for a chat? And of course we
the media wouldn't have known the first thing about that,
because he would have organized to go in either at
night or you know, when people weren't waiting for something
(03:18):
to happen.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
As it was, the media were.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
Outside Sandrum, they had been for several days, and all
of a sudden it exploded. Now Andrew was in custody
for just under twelve hours. He has now returned home.
A picture has surfaced of him trying to what looks
like duck in the back seat of the car that
he's in, looking completely hollowed out.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
This isn't just a come down.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
For somebody that thought he was so important in the
role family. This is a complete, total, utter humiliation and
it could be about to get a lot worse. The
next steps could be the police say thanks for talking
to us, Actually we don't want to talk to you anymore.
The evidence isn't there, or we found evidence that clears you,
(04:03):
or he could be charged, and that would put it
all into a different board game.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
It's funny you bring up that photo because I've noticed
that the BBC has been running it almost consistently. You know,
all day to day, that photo, and if you haven't
seen it, you know you'll know it when you see
it kind of thing. This all seems quite unprecedented, is it.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
I think it probably is in modern times. I've been
covering the Roles for over thirty five years, and certainly
nothing's seen anything like it. The only time one can
think of the Royal as any senior member of the
Role family getting into a bit of hot bother was
about twenty years ago, believe it or not, Princess Anne
pleaded guilty to having a dangerous dog as it had
(04:46):
been a member of the public.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
But this is off the scale to what we've got today.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
Here are some really serious allegations of national security that
have been made about Andrew, the Queen's most favorite son.
It was recorded eighth in line to the throne, the
King's younger brother. And you know, Chelsea, the amazing thing
is if this goes to court, if then the Crown
(05:13):
Prosecution Service will be prosecuting, and that word.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Crown means the King.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
The people representing the King will be prosecuting Andrew Mann
Batman Windsor if it goes that far. As I said,
he has denied any wrongdoing. But there is a lot
more to this, Chelsea, because something like six to eight
other police forces in the UK are also looking at
other investigations around Jeffrey Epstein, and one of those is
(05:44):
looking at some eighty or nearly ninety flights that came
into the UK or left from the UK in his
private aeroplane, and the concern is that some of those
flights may have been trafficking.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Young women or girls. Of course, did Andrew man Batten
Winsor know about that? He says not.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
It's funny you bring up so Andrew is still eighth
in line to the throne. At what point does he
completely get shafted by the royal family.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
I would imagine it's going to be a matter of minutes,
woun't you? But at the moment, officially he is still
in late eighth in line to the throne. I can't
imagine King Charles the Third will allow that for very long.
You know, he stripped him of all the titles, he
has kicked him out of his house. Now we get
these further allegations. What is there left? There's that left
(06:37):
that he's still in the line of succession, believe it
or not. Though it has to go through some legislation
and it has to go through things, so you know,
it may be sometime in the coming but I'm absolutely
sure that they are looking to do that.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Now.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Another thing I think the king is desperate to do.
He was out on official engagements today, meeting and greeting people,
and as he got out the car, people were shouting,
what did you know about Andrew?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
What's your reaction to this?
Speaker 4 (07:04):
That's been commonplace now for the last few months, whenever
he's out and about, and that can't go on.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I don't think that cannot be allowed to go on.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
And so I think we are going to see some
decisive action, and that is why I think the king
has been quite decisive so far. But this is a
situation that is completely new. I think, do you know
what I think the last time a senior member of
the Royle family was detained. We might be looking almost
back to King Charles the first and he.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Was executed absolutely, and I mean in terms of the
eighth in line to the thrown, you know, the likelihood
of him ever becoming close. I mean the average age
of a monarch these days is about one hundred, right,
So I mean it's not but it's largely symbolic, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
In terms of King Charles.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
What has he actually officially said?
Speaker 4 (07:53):
I suppose there was a statement out today and there
were two key bits in it for me, at least
in the middle of it all in its own paragraph
was that phrase no one is above the law. And
I think that's key because that says, Andrew, You're going
to be like anybody else in this process. And I
(08:15):
think that's possibly why the police didn't just say, come
and see us under cover of darkness.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
I think that's why there was the big door knock.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Incidentally, it is said that King Charles had no idea
this was going to happen. There are some people who
are doubting that the Home Office, the government department that
looks after the police. They did know beforehand, so it's
interesting that that was there and this tac was taken.
But King Charles has got a very difficult act now,
and that is trying to separate family and monarchy. One
(08:47):
often talks about the royal family, but of course family
is one thing, and you can't.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Do anything about a sister or a brother you don't
particularly like.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
But you can try as he is doing, I think,
and isolate the monarchy from the scandal. Every time the
communications people the royal family think they get ahead of
this Chelsea, it comes up and it overwhelms them again.
And as I said, if this investigation goes on as
I think it will, this could.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Go on for years.
Speaker 5 (09:18):
Well you know, i'm the expert in a way, because
I've been totally exonerated. It's very nice I can actually
speak about it very nicely. I think it's a shame.
I think it's very sad. I think it's so bad
for the royal family. It's a very very sad to me.
It's a very sad thing when I see that. It's
a very sad thing to see it and to see
what's going on with his brother who's obviously coming to
(09:40):
our country very soon that he's a fantastic man, the king.
So I think it's a very sad thing. It's really
interesting because nobody used to speak about Epistein when he
was alive, but now they speak. But I'm the one
that can talk about it because I've been totally exonerated.
I did nothing.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Is he ever likely to face I think there is
that possibility. Personally, I think it's unlikely, but it rather depines.
It depends what police find in these searches. So we
know they conducted a search.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
At the current house that Andrew is living in.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Incidentally, it was the house where Prince Philip spent his
last days as well, in the Sandringham estate in East England.
Andrew is waiting to move into a house that's being
done up for him, much much smaller.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
They've been searching there. That search has now concluded.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
There is another search happening not far from here, actually
in Windsor, and that was Andrew's old house, this massive
mansion that he was allowed to live in until eventually
he was told he had to get out, and.
Speaker 3 (10:45):
They are searching that.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
And the reasoning, sidly is because not all of Andrew's
stuff has been moved out, and I am absolutely sure
they'll be looking for computers, computer records, emails, printouts, mobile
phone phone records, all of that to see what that
communication wants between Epstein and Andrew and to see what information,
if any, what documents, if any, might have been passed over.
(11:09):
Now Here is one crucial thought about this toy you, Chelsea.
Here in the UK, we have sacked an ambassador to America,
Lord Mandelson, because of the Epstein files. We have now
had a very close relative of the monarch, somebody in
the royal family arrested. If you can arrest a prince,
(11:31):
could you also arrest a president. Plenty of people are thinking,
what's happening in America? Why haven't any of the businessmen
who were named by the women who said that they
were trafficked? Why haven't they even been talked to? And
is President Trump a squeaky clean in this?
Speaker 3 (11:49):
As he says he is?
Speaker 4 (11:50):
He says, I'm completely exonerated. I've got nothing to hide.
But so much has been redacted in those Epstein files.
People are thinking, is that exactly the case?
Speaker 2 (12:01):
It certainly does seem like the UK is doing far
more than the US in terms of these Epstein files,
I mean that must play quite well for circuits.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Damer, Yes, I think so.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I think it plays probably quite well for the country actually,
and very proud of our legal processes, as of course
New Zealanders as well. And I think it also feeds
into the narrative that King Charles is trying to get
this sorted. You know, he doesn't want to get directly involved,
because he's not a solicitor or a embarrassed anything. But
he's saying, look, treat Andrew as you would anyone else,
(12:37):
and believe in me. These custody suites that Andrew would
have been kept in are not cozy. You know, there
would have been no lap of luxury. And for a
man who's everyone I've spoken to who has worked for
him or knows him, says arrogant, says full of himself,
could be very rude to people. This is some mighty,
(12:58):
mighty come down. What it'll mean for Sarah Ferguson, she's
kind of disappeared anyway, We believe she's in the Middle East.
But what it will mean for the two daughters, Princesses
Eugenie and Beatrice, that's another matter. At the moment, they're
still in the royal family. There are rumors though that
Prince William and Princess Catherine think the whole family, that
(13:22):
side of the family should be I think cut a
drift a bit. It's going to be very very difficult,
very very painful. And that's before we've heard from these
other police services around the UK that have got these
other investigations going on as well.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, it sounds like it could very well become a
lot worse for him. This is the tip of the iceberg.
What's been the reaction of the British public to this news?
Speaker 4 (13:47):
Well, I can't just can't tell you how many camera
crews they were outside Buckingham Palace earlier and probably still are.
This has been a worldwide story. I'd be talking, you
know as well to newsrooms around the world about this.
It has been an amazing thing. And I think part
of it is Andrew has never been that universally popular.
(14:12):
There's that old adage, isn't there be nice to people
on your way up because you might need them on
your way down, And we're seeing somebody that has really
suffered from that, I think and he seems to be
pretty sure of friends at the moment, and people love
that story that here is somebody who had everything, everything
he ever wanted. He probably never washed the plate, you know,
(14:35):
he was somebody who really was born into a massive
life of grace and favor all of a sudden brought
back down to earth with a massive, massive bump. And
even though he's saying nothing to do with me, didn't
do any wrongdoing, et cetera, et cetera, there is just
this snowball effect now, allegation after allegation after allegation, and
(14:59):
that is what is so captivating, Darius said about the story.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
And I've seen comments from Virginia Giuffrey's family as well,
And of course you mentioned her before. She's one of
the women at the forefront of the Epstein files and
the Epstein abuse allegations who said that she was raped
by Andrew several times as a minor. They've come out
and said that she, you know, in retrospect, is doing
(15:24):
it for every rape victim around the world. And she
obviously she died of suicide in April last year, but
she died with people still saying that she was making
things up.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Yes, and today still I think further and supporters of
Andrew will probably say, oh, you know, he's done nothing
wrong in this and that, and he denies ever meeting her.
Still still are saying, you know, yes, it was her persistence.
What was it? You know, there there are two of
us here, and we both know the truth, but one
(16:01):
of us is prepared to say it. So I think
was her big quote something along those lines. And here
we are seeing her defiance that she wasn't going to
be quiet. She wasn't going to be kept quiet. And
even though it was very important and very powerful people
Prince Andrew at the time, but also Epstein and a
lot of very senior business people in that upper echelon
(16:23):
circle of Epstein's circle, even though all of those things
that she probably felt terribly isolated at the time. This
is the ripple effect from what she's done. The release
of the Epstein files in particular, has been that. But
as I said, this arrest today was not about any
(16:44):
sexual allegations. This was entirely about the fact that he
was privy to information. But did he then give that
information to other people for whatever reason? And if he has,
that's a very very serious offense and one that people
in this country will not forgive it.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Good he deserves it.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Should have should have been arrested a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
Quite frankly, I think just abused his position completely. So yeah,
it's the right thing for the victims.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
I want to see everybody on the files of wrestled,
everybody that was involved with Epstein, everybody else doing anything
illegal and moral. I want them aral wrestled, I want
them more trial.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I think it is good that it's been arrested. It's
good that he's paid for what he's done.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Now, lastly, Gavin, paint me a picture. You've been a
royal correspondent for you said thirty five years. Now, it
doesn't you know you're doing well. It doesn't look like
you've been in the game for that long. But paint
me a picture.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
What happens?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Do you get a text message from a guard something
saying the police are here?
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Do you you know?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
How do you get involved in? How do you know
that these things are happening.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
There are people who have worked for the Royal household,
don't forget lots of palaces, lots of houses. The staff
are very large in number. They are also not very
well paid. Now I'm not pointing to finger any one
member of staff ending but by and large some of
them do you know, meet journalists and get taken out
(18:32):
for dinner and stuff, so there's an element of that.
There's the former staff as well who might not feel
they've been treated very well, and I dare say there
are a few who work directly for Andrew who.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Might feel that way.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
So you get those then of course, yes, people within
the police force, within the security service as well. I
mean it's it is it's contacts, it's having knowing.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Others as well.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
And also I have to say the Royal correspondents are
pretty good at at sort of you know, sharing things
as well occasionally, but it is an extraordinary job. Is
a correspondent one of the most unusual roles, I think,
because you are looking so much at a family, and
of course all families have you know, members who are
(19:21):
slightly odd or slightly get into trouble or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
But you're also looking.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
At a monarchy and the way in which the monarchy
operates is absolutely fascinating. And it was Prince Philip who
called it the firm, you know, like it was a business,
and lots of people said, oh that was that was
not the right thing to say, but in a sense
it is a business and if they lose the support
of the UK people, if they lose the support.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Of the Commonwealth member countries as well, then I think
the game is up.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Thanks for joining us, Kevin.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Lovely to speak to you again, Jelsic, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at enzidherld dot co dot enz The Front Page is
hosted and produced by me Chelsea daniels Kine. Dicky is
our studio operator, Richard Martin, our producer and editor, and
our executive producer.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Is Jane Ye.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Follow the Front Page on the iheartapp or wherever you
get your podcasts, and join us next time for another
look beyond the headlines.
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