T
he arrest of former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on February 19 on suspicion of serious misconduct in public office reminds us that while the Epstein case may be resurfacing in France, its effects on the British monarchy are longer-lasting and more corrosive. The ongoing case involving the former prince is not a one-off crisis, but a process of institutional erosion marked by successive revelations, denials and attempts at containment that have, for over a decade, undermined the symbolic legitimacy of the Crown.
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Former Prince Andrew arrested for several hours by police in historic event for the UK
A decisive turning point came in 2010, when Prince Andrew – the younger brother of King Charles III – was photographed in Central Park alongside Jeffrey Epstein, who had already been convicted of sex crimes. Shortly thereafter, Virginia Giuffre claimed to have been a victim of sex trafficking orchestrated by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, accusing the duke of York of acts committed while she was a minor. Her account, long contested and dismissed in the public sphere, nevertheless fueled a civil case in the United States, placing the monarchy in a protracted defensive stance.
