Why Prince Andrew Could Face Life in Prison Over the Epstein Files | Andrew: Downfall of a Prince

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:02]I was the chief crown prosecutor for Northwest England and also for London.

[00:00:09]For best part of 25 years, I prosecuted the most serious cases that have happened in the United Kingdom, including involving very high-profile figures, very sensitive cases, often involving secrecy, confidentiality, often at the heart of government. Uh and particularly for the last 10 years since I left prosecuting full-time, I've been trying to narrow the gap between what the authorities do and what the PE public know to create more transparency so that people understand what's being done in their name.

[00:00:44]>> Good morning. Well, there has been a very significant development in the investigation into the Epstein files and Andrew Mountbatton Windsor has been arrested this morning on suspicion of misconduct in public life.

[00:01:01]>> This case involves the arrest of a royal and the last royal to be arrested was in 1647.

[00:01:11]That is how significant it is that it sends out a message that it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what your status is. You yourself will be held to account and that I think can only be a good thing for society.

[00:01:23]I think everybody was um absolutely um flabbergasted, shocked by what happened. And what the police have to do is um look at all the evidence that they've collected and will collect also including what they will have uncovered during the searches and try and tie up what they found with the elements of the offense. And when they've got to a point where there is in their view reasonable suspicion, they can then present that uh to my former colleagues in the Crown Prosecution Service who will make a judgment as to whether or not that offense or any other offense is made out. He was arrested by um Chems Valley Police um for misconduct in public office, which is extremely rare. I mean, I've prosecuted several times involving police officers, prison officers, that kind of thing. But it's um uh a very rare charge and what it the elements of the charge are quite straightforward.

[00:02:21]You've got to be a public officer.

[00:02:24]You've got to then uh misconduct yourself. Uh you've got to do so in such a way that it abuses public trust and you've got to do so without any justification. Um that's those are the elements of the offense. So it's relatively straightforward. You know, does the evidence match the elements of the offense? And if it does, then that offense should be charged.

[00:02:46]I wouldn't want to be Andrew Mamba and Windsor. The penalty um for misconduct in public office goes up to a maximum of life imprisonment.

[00:02:57]Um it is as serious as homicide and if you are guilty of these offenses, then you should go to prison. uh and it I think that's something the public expect because that's how you would deal with any other citizen in these circumstances and I thought the rule of law did apply to everybody.

[00:03:18]My former colleagues in Crime Prosecution Service will like myself have dealt with very high-profile cases in the past. This will be dealt with by a specialist team in the complex casework division who on a daily basis deal with the most high-profile casework um you know terrorism um international fraud that kind of thing. What um adds some adds something to this is of course the fact that some of the witnesses will be themselves members of the royal family potentially um and uh other politicians that it involves the international dimension. Um, I think maybe people haven't understood just because we've seen emails uh flying back and forth or copies of emails uh in the Department of Justice's release of the Epstein files up to now.

[00:04:13]That's not enough for a trial. They're going to have to authenticate all of that material. Uh that means they're going to have to look at the original material. Uh that means going over to Washington and New York. That means collecting that evidence and bringing it to the United Kingdom to enable to use that in trial. Uh and you and I, we all know um that um documents can be uh manufactured.

[00:04:41]So we've got to not just simply accept what those documents say. We've got to uh authenticate them and be sure that they are genuine emails that that involved uh allegations that ultimately can then be taken forward. It's a much more complicated than people would like to think.

[00:05:03]Was there misconduct? Well, if you have evidence that somebody has been uh forwarding secret and confidential information to somebody else, that's misconduct. did he do so uh that would abuse public trust? Well, somebody doing that will abuse public trust. Uh and there can be no justification. So those three elements are relatively straightforward to prove in this case and pretty much any other misconduct.

[00:05:25]The the issue here is going to be whether he was a public officer. Just being a member of the royal family doesn't make you a public officer.

[00:05:32]um you know it invariably we we've dealt with senior police officers and prison officers and politicians um who are paid to do a job and that you know those are relatively straightforward. In this case we have a member of the royal family and what what they're going to have to rely upon is his time as a trade envoy.

[00:05:50]>> Prince Andrew will now take up a position promoting British trade around the world. While his new job carries no salary, it's all expenses paid.

[00:05:59]Invariably, trade envoys are ceremonial roles. Um, and they aren't decision-making roles. What the prosecutors and police will have to prove is that he was doing more than just being a ceremonial trade envoy, that he was actually uh making decisions, that he was um acting in such a way that uh that would make him a public officer. It gives me great pleasure to welcome back his royal highness the Duke of York in his capacity as the United Kingdom's special representative for international trade and investment as trade envoy. There will undoubtedly be contracts um a memorandum of understanding with him and the the government at the time uh as to what his role was and responsibilities were. Um but you know I I was around back then and I remember him going to parts of the world quite frankly uh where uh we didn't see many British politicians going even back then it felt odd uh that he was functioning in the way that he was functioning. I have no doubt that as part of the preparation for or part of the investigation they'll be looking at his own interviews that he's done back then. Uh he gave he was very public. He was um regularly on the news or uh in newspapers explaining what he was doing and why he was doing it.

[00:07:22]>> I started in Germany last week. I then had to go to Doha to give a speech. I then went to Abu Dhabi before going to Iraq.

[00:07:30]>> Ridiculous as it may sound, he was also forwarding emails regarding fixing contact with Gaddafi at the time uh when clearly Libya was in tremendous flux. Uh and again Libya was extremely wealthy back then. uh and the wealth was held by a small number of people. Having the information that he allegedly forwarded um would give you a head start and again I can't see any issue with that being seen as misconduct. It's it's also a breach of the official secrets act. You know any document produced by the British government which is for the British government is by its nature an official secret. People have asked me if I want to meet him as he does not know where to put his money. I wondered if Prince Andrew should make the intro.

[00:08:19]>> When you are allegedly fixing contacts for Epstein uh in relation to Gaddafi at a time when Gaddafi was perceived to be corrupt, there is no doubt in my mind that there can only be one explanation for that which is what which is to give financial benefit to Epstein or anybody around Epstein at that time. and there was an enormous amount of money flowing in and out of Libya. Um it suggests somebody that's um allegedly systemically breaching uh the responsibilities placed upon him. So um when you give somebody um you know a head start when you give somebody um uh information they wouldn't have otherwise then you potentially creating an offense under the bribery act. So you you have a misconduct in public office allegation.

[00:09:06]You have an official secrets act allegation. You have bribery act allegation. All flowing from the same material. Um which is why people shouldn't be just fixated on the misconduct. There are other potential crimes here. On one trip uh he shared visitor reports for Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam. Countries which you know the kind of information that those reports would have would be extremely sensitive. There are often very candid conversations had by u ambassadors and others about who to engage with. Um you know what levers to pull to get information um and so the fact that he gave that to somebody um who could only potentially use it to gain personal benefit uh would undoubtedly also be misconduct in public office. What is telling is that in a number of these cases the emails that he forwarded he only received moments before. So it wasn't a case of him reflecting on how important this email might be, how confidential it was. He almost is acting like a postbox. He's automatically sending on uh material that he's received uh for his benefit and which was strictly confidential. You know, I can't begin to tell you. I've dealt with breaches of the Official Secrets Act and and others. And invariably somebody who does that is reflecting upon why they did it and will they do it and they they try and find a way of doing it in such a way that perhaps they'll never be caught.

[00:10:38]The allegation here is that he asked for a certain document. He gets that document and within seconds he's forwarding on to Empstein. Um it I mean it beggars belief.

[00:10:48]>> I was trafficked to Prince Andrew. How many times were you trafficked to him?

[00:10:54]Three times.

[00:10:55]This is a real photo. And that was the first time you met him.

[00:10:59]>> And that's the very first time I met him.

[00:11:00]>> Then you had the first tranch of the Epstein files which gave us a bit more information about this. We've seen you photographs and and all manner of things coming forward. Slowly but surely people have become more and more agitated. I think um that the evidence is there. Why are you not even bothering to investigate? There has been a a deliberate slowness on the part of the Metropon police to investigate the sexual misconduct allegations. A deliberateness on their part not to bother looking at land. And of course that gives the impression, does it not?

[00:11:36]Um that if you're powerful, if you're rich, if you have status, you can abuse without with impunity. And you know, I've I've said it publicly. I I'm concerned that one of the reasons they didn't do so was because he was until recently a prince and that is just not acceptable. I've been calling for an investigation in relation to Andrew and Epstein and the sexual misconduct allegations for about 10 years now and the initial view of the Metropolitan Police which is the police for London was that there was insufficient evidence for them to to even investigate. uh they took some original statements from Virginia Jafrey or video uh and decided there was nothing for them to look at.

[00:12:21]In 2019 they carried out review and decided nah we'll stay we'll stick with no investigation. In 2021 they said nah we'll stick with the investigation. In 2022 nah we're going to stick with so they've had many opportunities to take this forward. Uh now however suddenly uh when when he's in the public eye and when people are now looking at all other areas of criminality they're looking at this I said it publicly um when the government is an alleged victim the state moves a pace when a woman is alleged victim state's extremely slow and they could have been doing this 10 years ago they fact that they are now doing it um I suppose is welcome of course it's welcome uh but it's 10 years too late. And of course, in Virginia Defra's case, she's passed away. So, you know, and one alleged victim is no longer with us. And and that's a tragedy. I have no doubt for their family. Historically, uh and it's true of every nation state, people in power have been able to do what they want to do. And very often the establishment uh closes the door, closes the curtains.

[00:13:31]Don't nothing to see here. um you know go and go and get somebody out there who is easy to get to and that damages confidence. We have we have a massive trust deficit globally. People don't trust anybody anymore. Um you know the pe people think well there's there's no justice in this world. And so it's only when you bring the powerful people to justice or at least try to uh that you are suddenly able to demonstrate that the law applies to everybody. You know I'm a very strong believer as in the rule of law and the rule of law only works if it applies to everybody but unfortunately uh the impression is being given that um there are certain group of in society all societies um that are just not going to be uh brought under the opaces of the rule of law and that's that's more than a tragedy that is damaging um you why should I why should anybody then comply with the law uh if they think that there you know, people in significant power powerful positions that can do what they want. It's just unacceptable.

[00:14:38]Andrew was never alone uh during all the period that he was with Epstein. As a member of the royal family, he would have had close protection, which is a number of um bodyguards. Um and yes, they're meant to be discreet. discretion is is not the same thing as um protecting him if that's what they've done. Um you know there are allegations that he told them to get dirt on Virginia Dupra. Uh that's beyond their remit. As part of the investigation, um the police will have to talk to witnesses including the close protection officers, uh people who were involved in security, people involved in looking after diary, people who've um were involved in receiving phone calls, you know, this is um you know, this is pre smartphone much some of it. So, you know, somebody would have picked up a a receiver. Uh you know, um everybody will have to be spoken to. uh and the historically the palace ecosystem has been extremely secret secretive um you know what the public don't know they don't need to know these people were always in a position where they knew stuff that you and I don't know uh and uh as I've you know as everybody knows their responsibilities to us not to them we pay their bills we pay their salaries therefore they have to ensure that um if they see something that's criminal that they do something about it and they haven't and I'm glad at least now um some of them are speaking on the record.

[00:16:09]My sense is that um we're we're at the beginning of something not not near the end. There will be people who knew stuff. There will be people who didn't do what they should have done. There will be people within um the establishment um who turned a blind eye.

[00:16:24]There will be uh we've had allegations involving airports and trafficking within London airports or British airports. We've had allegations that involve Europe Europe and other countries. Um, this will go, this has legs. There will be others who will be implicated and there will be allegations involving them. And I hope that this is seen as an opportunity for a reckoning.

[00:16:50]>> When the reputational and now potentially criminal blast radius of the Epstein investigation reaches the monarchy, it is a global news event. The biggest crisis for the royal family since the death of Diana.

[00:17:02]>> Good afternoon, your majesty.

[00:17:04]>> Do you have any questions for the arrest of your brother, sir?

[00:17:06]>> Your majesty, how are you feeling?

[00:17:08]>> Let me pay credit to the king. The king has been very clear in the last year or so uh in saying, you know, let let the due process take its place and also of course stripping Andrew of all of his titles. Uh it's a message, isn't it?

[00:17:26]That I as the king is saying to the citizen, I'm with you. It's important that people in positions of power are held to account. I'm doing my bit and I want the state to do their bit. And I think that's uh that also has changed um the discourse and the dialogue. I've made my career on um ensuring that anybody in a position of power or responsibility is treated the same way as John and Jill who work in the local shop. You know, the the the community uh only becomes um a community when it sees that everybody is bound by the same laws. Uh, and I think the message with the arrest of of Andrew was a very stark one, namely that regardless of who you are, regardless of what your status is, um, if you commit a crime or alleged to have done so, um, we will investigate it and potentially uh, bring you to justice. You know, we need a clearing of um, the damage that's been done. There are countries around the world, I imagine even Australia, uh, who, you know, think, you know, is the royal family fit for purpose? You, you know, you, you were Prince Andrew, that you were, um, Duke of Kent. Uh, you had pile of, um, medals and, um, and, you know, you was perceived as, you know, some of the one of the most important people in this country. You still are eighth in line to the throne. Um but you are now facing um accountability and that is only a good thing.