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Speaker 1: Kyota.
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Speaker 2: 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 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. 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.
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Speaker 3: It's been an extraordinary few hours.
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Speaker 4: 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.
00:01:21
Speaker 3: At eight a m.
00:01:22
Speaker 4: They went there to formally arrest him, take him into custody. And question him about misconduct in public office.
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Speaker 3: What does that mean?
00:01:31
Speaker 4: Well, this isn't anything to do with the allegations that Virginia Jufrei or Virginia Roberts made against him.
00:01:38
Speaker 3: This is that when he was Trade Envoy, which.
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Speaker 4: 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.
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Speaker 3: And of course, to certain.
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Speaker 4: 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.
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Speaker 3: The allegations are that.
00:02:13
Speaker 4: 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.
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Speaker 3: If it did, go via email to Epstein.
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Speaker 2: And we know this all because of the Epstein files, don't we We do?
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Speaker 3: They have released a whole tranche of files.
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Speaker 4: 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.
00:02:51
Speaker 3: And that's where all this sort of hooks in together.
00:02:55
Speaker 4: 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 to happen.
00:03:18
Speaker 3: As it was, the media were.
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Speaker 4: 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.
00:03:41
Speaker 3: This isn't just a come down.
00:03:42
Speaker 4: 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, or he could be charged, and that would put it all into a different board game.
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Speaker 2: 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.
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Speaker 4: 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 been a member of the public.
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Speaker 3: But this is off the scale to what we've got today.
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Speaker 4: 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 Prosecution Service will be prosecuting, and that word.
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Speaker 3: Crown means the King.
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Speaker 4: 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 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.
00:05:57
Speaker 3: Young women or girls. Of course, did Andrew man Batten Winsor know about that? He says not.
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Speaker 2: 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.
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Speaker 4: 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 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.
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Speaker 3: Now.
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Speaker 4: 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?
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Speaker 3: What's your reaction to this?
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Speaker 4: That's been commonplace now for the last few months, whenever he's out and about, and that can't go on.
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Speaker 3: I don't think that cannot be allowed to go on.
00:07:14
Speaker 4: 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.
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Speaker 2: 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.
00:07:49
Speaker 3: In terms of King Charles.
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Speaker 2: What has he actually officially said?
00:07:53
Speaker 4: 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 think that's possibly why the police didn't just say, come and see us under cover of darkness.
00:08:22
Speaker 3: I think that's why there was the big door knock.
00:08:24
Speaker 4: 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 often talks about the royal family, but of course family is one thing, and you can't.
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Speaker 3: Do anything about a sister or a brother you don't particularly like.
00:08:54
Speaker 4: 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.
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Speaker 3: Go on for years.
00:09:18
Speaker 5: 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 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.
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Speaker 4: 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.
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Speaker 3: At the current house that Andrew is living in.
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Speaker 4: 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.
00:10:29
Speaker 3: They've been searching there. That search has now concluded.
00:10:32
Speaker 4: 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.
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Speaker 3: They are searching that.
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Speaker 4: 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. 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, 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?
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Speaker 3: As he says he is?
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Speaker 4: 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?
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Speaker 2: 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.
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Speaker 3: Damer, Yes, I think so.
00:12:14
Speaker 4: 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, 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, 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 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.
00:13:37
Speaker 2: 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?
00:13:47
Speaker 4: 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. 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, 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 that is what is so captivating, Darius said about the story.
00:15:02
Speaker 2: 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 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.
00:15:38
Speaker 4: 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 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 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 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.
00:17:10
Speaker 3: Good he deserves it.
00:17:12
Speaker 2: Should have should have been arrested a long time ago.
00:17:14
Speaker 3: Quite frankly, I think just abused his position completely. So yeah, it's the right thing for the victims.
00:17:20
Speaker 1: 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.
00:17:32
Speaker 3: I think it is good that it's been arrested. It's good that he's paid for what he's done.
00:17:41
Speaker 2: 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.
00:17:56
Speaker 3: What happens?
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Speaker 2: Do you get a text message from a guard something saying the police are here?
00:18:02
Speaker 3: Do you you know?
00:18:03
Speaker 2: How do you get involved in? How do you know that these things are happening.
00:18:09
Speaker 4: 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 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.
00:18:42
Speaker 3: Might feel that way.
00:18:44
Speaker 4: 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.
00:18:57
Speaker 3: Others as well.
00:18:57
Speaker 4: 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 slightly odd or slightly get into trouble or anything like that.
00:19:25
Speaker 3: But you're also looking.
00:19:26
Speaker 4: 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.
00:19:47
Speaker 3: Of the Commonwealth member countries as well, then I think the game is up.
00:19:52
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, Kevin.
00:19:54
Speaker 3: Lovely to speak to you again, Jelsic, Thank you.
00:20:00
Speaker 2: 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.
00:20:20
Speaker 3: Is Jane Ye.
00:20:21
Speaker 2: Follow the Front Page on the iheartapp or wherever you get your podcasts, and join us next time for another look beyond the headlines.
Speaker 1: Kyota.
00:00:05
Speaker 2: 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 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. 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.
00:01:07
Speaker 3: It's been an extraordinary few hours.
00:01:11
Speaker 4: 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.
00:01:21
Speaker 3: At eight a m.
00:01:22
Speaker 4: They went there to formally arrest him, take him into custody. And question him about misconduct in public office.
00:01:30
Speaker 3: What does that mean?
00:01:31
Speaker 4: Well, this isn't anything to do with the allegations that Virginia Jufrei or Virginia Roberts made against him.
00:01:38
Speaker 3: This is that when he was Trade Envoy, which.
00:01:41
Speaker 4: 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.
00:02:02
Speaker 3: And of course, to certain.
00:02:03
Speaker 4: 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.
00:02:12
Speaker 3: The allegations are that.
00:02:13
Speaker 4: 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.
00:02:30
Speaker 3: If it did, go via email to Epstein.
00:02:33
Speaker 2: And we know this all because of the Epstein files, don't we We do?
00:02:37
Speaker 3: They have released a whole tranche of files.
00:02:40
Speaker 4: 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.
00:02:51
Speaker 3: And that's where all this sort of hooks in together.
00:02:55
Speaker 4: 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 to happen.
00:03:18
Speaker 3: As it was, the media were.
00:03:21
Speaker 4: 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.
00:03:41
Speaker 3: This isn't just a come down.
00:03:42
Speaker 4: 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, or he could be charged, and that would put it all into a different board game.
00:04:08
Speaker 2: 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.
00:04:25
Speaker 4: 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 been a member of the public.
00:04:48
Speaker 3: But this is off the scale to what we've got today.
00:04:51
Speaker 4: 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 Prosecution Service will be prosecuting, and that word.
00:05:16
Speaker 3: Crown means the King.
00:05:19
Speaker 4: 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 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.
00:05:57
Speaker 3: Young women or girls. Of course, did Andrew man Batten Winsor know about that? He says not.
00:06:04
Speaker 2: 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.
00:06:15
Speaker 4: 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 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.
00:06:50
Speaker 3: Now.
00:06:50
Speaker 4: 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?
00:07:02
Speaker 3: What's your reaction to this?
00:07:04
Speaker 4: That's been commonplace now for the last few months, whenever he's out and about, and that can't go on.
00:07:11
Speaker 3: I don't think that cannot be allowed to go on.
00:07:14
Speaker 4: 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.
00:07:32
Speaker 2: 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.
00:07:49
Speaker 3: In terms of King Charles.
00:07:51
Speaker 2: What has he actually officially said?
00:07:53
Speaker 4: 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 think that's possibly why the police didn't just say, come and see us under cover of darkness.
00:08:22
Speaker 3: I think that's why there was the big door knock.
00:08:24
Speaker 4: 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 often talks about the royal family, but of course family is one thing, and you can't.
00:08:51
Speaker 3: Do anything about a sister or a brother you don't particularly like.
00:08:54
Speaker 4: 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.
00:09:11
Speaker 3: Go on for years.
00:09:18
Speaker 5: 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 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.
00:09:58
Speaker 4: 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.
00:10:11
Speaker 3: At the current house that Andrew is living in.
00:10:16
Speaker 4: 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.
00:10:29
Speaker 3: They've been searching there. That search has now concluded.
00:10:32
Speaker 4: 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.
00:10:45
Speaker 3: They are searching that.
00:10:45
Speaker 4: 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. 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, 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?
00:11:49
Speaker 3: As he says he is?
00:11:50
Speaker 4: 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?
00:12:01
Speaker 2: 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.
00:12:11
Speaker 3: Damer, Yes, I think so.
00:12:14
Speaker 4: 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, 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, 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 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.
00:13:37
Speaker 2: 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?
00:13:47
Speaker 4: 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. 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, 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 that is what is so captivating, Darius said about the story.
00:15:02
Speaker 2: 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 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.
00:15:38
Speaker 4: 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 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 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 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.
00:17:10
Speaker 3: Good he deserves it.
00:17:12
Speaker 2: Should have should have been arrested a long time ago.
00:17:14
Speaker 3: Quite frankly, I think just abused his position completely. So yeah, it's the right thing for the victims.
00:17:20
Speaker 1: 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.
00:17:32
Speaker 3: I think it is good that it's been arrested. It's good that he's paid for what he's done.
00:17:41
Speaker 2: 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.
00:17:56
Speaker 3: What happens?
00:17:57
Speaker 2: Do you get a text message from a guard something saying the police are here?
00:18:02
Speaker 3: Do you you know?
00:18:03
Speaker 2: How do you get involved in? How do you know that these things are happening.
00:18:09
Speaker 4: 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 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.
00:18:42
Speaker 3: Might feel that way.
00:18:44
Speaker 4: 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.
00:18:57
Speaker 3: Others as well.
00:18:57
Speaker 4: 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 slightly odd or slightly get into trouble or anything like that.
00:19:25
Speaker 3: But you're also looking.
00:19:26
Speaker 4: 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.
00:19:47
Speaker 3: Of the Commonwealth member countries as well, then I think the game is up.
00:19:52
Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us, Kevin.
00:19:54
Speaker 3: Lovely to speak to you again, Jelsic, Thank you.
00:20:00
Speaker 2: 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.
00:20:20
Speaker 3: Is Jane Ye.
00:20:21
Speaker 2: Follow the Front Page on the iheartapp or wherever you get your podcasts, and join us next time for another look beyond the headlines.
