(AFP) — The British government on Friday mulled passing a law to remove former prince Andrew from the line of succession, as police stepped up investigations into his conduct, quizzing the disgraced royal’s former protection officers.
Amid a torrent of often tawdry revelations from the files of late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, King Charles III has already stripped his younger brother of all his titles and ousted him from his home in Windsor.
But the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II remains eighth in line to the British throne after Princess Lilibet, the daughter of his nephew, Prince Harry.
The government would consider introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession once the police investigation is over, sources told AFP.
The former prince was arrested on Thursday at his new home on the king’s remote Sandringham estate in eastern Norfok on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Public outrage has grown over past months amid a daily drip of information about Andrew’s cosy ties to Epstein, and his apparent sharing of confidential information when he was a UK trade envoy from 2001 to 2011.
A YouGov poll conducted after Thursday’s arrest — an unprecendented act against the royal family in the modern era — showed 82 percent believed he should be removed from his place in line to the throne.
Police on Friday conducted a second day of searches at his former home, the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge in Windsor. These are expected to continue through the weekend.
London’s Metropolitan police force said it was seeking information from officers “close” to Andrew about “anything” they “saw or heard during that period of service that may be relevant to our ongoing reviews”.
It was also separately working with US authorities to “assess” allegations that multiple flights linked to Epstein helped traffic girls and women in and out of London airports.
At least nine British police forces have confirmed they are looking into claims — many related to Andrew — stemming from the latest batch of some three million Epstein files released by the US government last month.
Mountbatten-Windsor — who was marking his 66th birthday when arrested — was nowhere to seen on Friday after 11 hours in police custody.
Britain’s newspapers splashed on front pages a photograph of Andrew, looking haggard and wild-eyed as he left a Norfolk police station in a car late Thursday.
Charles issued a rare, personally signed statement insisting “the law must take its course” and sought to carry out business as usual.
But royal commentators highlighted that the first arrest of a senior royal in centuries signalled a moment of peril for the monarchy.
“I think the great challenge for the monarchy in the coming weeks, months, possibly longer, is the various unknowns in this particular crisis moment,” said royal expert Ed Owens.
Any charges against Andrew or a trial could be a long time coming, as the investigations proceed.
And the road towards stripping the former prince from the line of succession would also take time, as an act of parliament is needed.
“Before the line of succession could be changed, it would require all 14 countries, where King Charles is also their head of state, as well as the UK, to change the law of succession,” said constitutional expert Robert Hazell, from University College London.
Mountbatten-Windsor is now deeply unpopular with Britons.
“I’m really pleased that nobody’s above the law,” said Jo Mortimer, 64, in the Norfolk town of Aylsham where the former prince was held in custody.
In a November 2010 email from the US documents, seen by AFP, Mountbatten-Windsor appeared to share with the US financier reports on his visit to several Asian countries, among other communications about investment possibilities.
Epstein had already been convicted in the United States in 2008 of child prostitution.
Official guidance is thought to stipulate that trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive commercial or political information related to their official visits.
The ex-prince has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
But one of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, last year recounted in shocking detail in her posthumous memoir claims that she had been trafficked three times to have sex with Andrew, twice when she was 17.
The ex-prince settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre, while not admitting liability.
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