00:00:00
Speaker 1: The biggest story in the world right now, though, is happening in the UK, where overnight the royal formerly known as Prince Andrew was placed under arrest by British police. Ben Downey is the UK correspondent for seven years and he's currently at Wood Farm. Ben, good morning, what is the latest with Andrew's arrest?
00:00:22
Speaker 2: It goes, good morning. Well, I think we'd better staff by saying this is really nothing short of an historic day in the UK, the first time I remember the royal family has been arrested in close to four hundred years, so we really can't have state the gravity of this. Now that Wood Farm, that is the address that Andrew's been exiled to by his brother after his Epstein files revelations keps coming out, and it's here at eight in the morning when police arrested him on his fifty sixth birthday. But now eleven hours later, after all this questioning, he's been released from a police station. Quite an unflattering photo from a taken of him from a press photographer there for the BBC as he was or leavening the police station. He's returned home, now released under investigation for the suspicion of misconduct in public office. Now, your listeners, they're going to be probably more familiar with a lot of the accusations against Andrew from the late Virginia Roberts Stiffrey, who accused him of having sex with her when she was a minor. They might be aware of the allegations against him the potentially human trafficking of putting women on private jets and flying them to his royal residences with the help of Jeffrey Epstein. This charge, this is different. So Andrew for a period of around ten years was the UK Trade Envoy effectively who was representing the UK, putting a royal rubber stamp and a lot of trade deals, adding a lot of legitimacy to a lot of his overseas sunnets and conferences. But during this time these Epstein files have revealed that he was forwarding on documents to the pedophile, the human trafficker about trade reports into certain countries on his official visits in certain locations as well. That prompted a police probe. More than a week now later, we've had police swoop at his address. Police haven't made any remarks about whether they're going to be investigating him further. Since the arrest about those other relations into human trafficking and the like as well. But he has now been released under investigation. What that means is they very likely have seized his devices or many devices, many documents from his home and his old home, Royal Lodge, is the one he was picked out of about thirty one romantan as well. Police rated that property too. So now it could be a matter if he's charged. It could be a matter of days, it could be a matter of weeks or even longer. It's going to have to wait until police go through all of this information and curated and put forward a briefs of evidence. Really, but if he is charged with misconduct in public office, the maximum sentence is life in prison. That's how serious this is. So if he's arrested and convicted, the first member of the royal family to be jailed in centuries. That's why it's been seen as the greatest crisis facing the modern monarchy.
00:02:58
Speaker 1: Under the British system of government similar to ours been with the crown being the head of state, the courts, the police are all sort of branded. I mean, we have the term King's counsel here, Queen's council here, in Australia, the royal family is utterly intertwined throughout the legal system. In the UK, I'm nail heads. So that puts the royal family in the direct conflict. How are they going to manage that?
00:03:29
Speaker 2: Well, it's not so much the royal family, it's the authority of the Crown, of the king. So because Prince Andrew is no longer a royal it makes this process easier. But you're right. I mean when the police officers the officers of the Crown. The prosecution service is the Crown Prosecution Service, the King's courts. They act on His Majesty's pleasure. That's how this works. So should he be charged, he is going to be investigated by the power of the Crown. So it's effectively the King investigating through his own powers his younger brother, which is quite a remarkable set of circle of stances to take place. Now he's Majesty King charge. He has actually put out a statement. I read it for you now, he says, today, I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten Winsor and the suspicion of misconduct in public office. What now follows as the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities in this As I said before, they have our full and a wholehearted support and cooperation. He finish his writing, let me state clearly the law must now take its course. So he's really trying to step back from this. But so historic is this. Everyone wanting to make sure every tea has crossed, every eye has dotted on this, and there has to be seen. Justice has to be seen to be done should Andrew be actually find guilty of any of these crimes as well. So incredibly tenuous, incredibly precious set of circumstances here, precarious really for the royal family. But they're trying to proceed on. We'll just have to wait and see whether Andrew is charged on this charge of this conduct in public office, or if we find other information his devices that they might charge and but other claims against him, likes the that the likes of continued Robertship made against him fools. So we're just at the beginning of his starter right now, just one final one.
00:05:04
Speaker 1: Ben Factions might be too strong a word for it, Schism might be too strong a word for it too. But is there a sort of gap between what King Charles would think of this versus what Prince William would think of this, because there's a lot of people now are saying that. In hindsight, I don't think it's fair to pin it all on the Queen, because the Duke could have done something too. But there's a bit of a sense that the Royals have been running a bit of a protection racket for this for decades. And you never know how true these things are. But I've read so called royal experts say that William has an unabiding disgust for his uncle and thinks that a tougher line should be taken. Is that a factor in this too?
00:05:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, William and Tate have really made no sort of you know, hint about the fact that they can't stand Andrew, I mean, patron of multiple charities that try to combat violence against the women, sort of accusations that have been leveled against him. But the King himself, I mean, he has been one of the larger critics of Andrew as well. You mentioned the late Queen. Well, the problem reason why is it's so difficult for the royal family as well, is that trade on Boyd position, the place that has now got Andrew into such trouble with the law. The Queen was the one that nominated him and sponsored him for that role, and it was he at the time Tony Blair, that with the Queen put him in this job. Now, at the time King Charles was one of the people, if you're going to use the word fashion, he was from the other party. He was saying, no, he's not Andrew is not fit to conduct a role like this. What he's going to do is go around the world and sort of party with models on the on. You know, the company died and the government died, and it's really what it seemed to have happened in a lot of these cases. Of course, Andrew denies any wrongdoing in this case as well, but it appears the King, the Prince and Princess of Wales there of the same mind on this. The Prince and Princess of Wales today came out saying that they support the King's statement. Which Andrew has so few remaining friends now, even as his ex wife Sarah Ferguson, I mean she might very well be dragged into this. She's her naims all through the Epstein files her daughters Beastris and Eugenia. They're saying they're finding it incredibly uncomfortable and they're finding it dis able to talk to their parents as well. So he's really Andrew's really on an island by himself. It's gonna be difficult for him to even fund his legal defense. He doesn't really have an income anymore, and he's been stripping a lot of his outsets too, so it is if he's been out have any allies there there are Stewart far between now.
00:07:28
Speaker 1: Great report Ben Ben Downey in the UK for seven years at Wood Farm.
00:07:32
Speaker 2: Thank you.
00:07:33
Speaker 3: Eight double two three double O double OW is the number for the meet tray this morning thanks to Goodwood Quality Meets. If you've got a slogan for South Australia, we'd love to hear it because terrific and very creative one is coming through eight double two three double double and on the text lines here before right zero eight thirty ninety five. A lot of people this morning, in the context of Andrew, have referenced this being the first time a royal has been arrested in nearly four hundred years. Give you a sense of how different the world was the last time royal was arrested. There was another Charles. Actually it was Charles the First in the sixteen hundreds and the seventeenth century, who was quarreling with the English Parliament at the time, who he still had a view, Charles the First that as a king, you have a divine right to rule. You have a god conferred right to be the king and make decisions, and the Partment was saying, Charlie, we've kind of moved past that. There was an English Civil war as a result, he was tried and executed. That's how long it's been between royalsburg arrested.
00:08:35
Speaker 1: Who made you king? I didn't vote for you.
Speaker 1: The biggest story in the world right now, though, is happening in the UK, where overnight the royal formerly known as Prince Andrew was placed under arrest by British police. Ben Downey is the UK correspondent for seven years and he's currently at Wood Farm. Ben, good morning, what is the latest with Andrew's arrest?
00:00:22
Speaker 2: It goes, good morning. Well, I think we'd better staff by saying this is really nothing short of an historic day in the UK, the first time I remember the royal family has been arrested in close to four hundred years, so we really can't have state the gravity of this. Now that Wood Farm, that is the address that Andrew's been exiled to by his brother after his Epstein files revelations keps coming out, and it's here at eight in the morning when police arrested him on his fifty sixth birthday. But now eleven hours later, after all this questioning, he's been released from a police station. Quite an unflattering photo from a taken of him from a press photographer there for the BBC as he was or leavening the police station. He's returned home, now released under investigation for the suspicion of misconduct in public office. Now, your listeners, they're going to be probably more familiar with a lot of the accusations against Andrew from the late Virginia Roberts Stiffrey, who accused him of having sex with her when she was a minor. They might be aware of the allegations against him the potentially human trafficking of putting women on private jets and flying them to his royal residences with the help of Jeffrey Epstein. This charge, this is different. So Andrew for a period of around ten years was the UK Trade Envoy effectively who was representing the UK, putting a royal rubber stamp and a lot of trade deals, adding a lot of legitimacy to a lot of his overseas sunnets and conferences. But during this time these Epstein files have revealed that he was forwarding on documents to the pedophile, the human trafficker about trade reports into certain countries on his official visits in certain locations as well. That prompted a police probe. More than a week now later, we've had police swoop at his address. Police haven't made any remarks about whether they're going to be investigating him further. Since the arrest about those other relations into human trafficking and the like as well. But he has now been released under investigation. What that means is they very likely have seized his devices or many devices, many documents from his home and his old home, Royal Lodge, is the one he was picked out of about thirty one romantan as well. Police rated that property too. So now it could be a matter if he's charged. It could be a matter of days, it could be a matter of weeks or even longer. It's going to have to wait until police go through all of this information and curated and put forward a briefs of evidence. Really, but if he is charged with misconduct in public office, the maximum sentence is life in prison. That's how serious this is. So if he's arrested and convicted, the first member of the royal family to be jailed in centuries. That's why it's been seen as the greatest crisis facing the modern monarchy.
00:02:58
Speaker 1: Under the British system of government similar to ours been with the crown being the head of state, the courts, the police are all sort of branded. I mean, we have the term King's counsel here, Queen's council here, in Australia, the royal family is utterly intertwined throughout the legal system. In the UK, I'm nail heads. So that puts the royal family in the direct conflict. How are they going to manage that?
00:03:29
Speaker 2: Well, it's not so much the royal family, it's the authority of the Crown, of the king. So because Prince Andrew is no longer a royal it makes this process easier. But you're right. I mean when the police officers the officers of the Crown. The prosecution service is the Crown Prosecution Service, the King's courts. They act on His Majesty's pleasure. That's how this works. So should he be charged, he is going to be investigated by the power of the Crown. So it's effectively the King investigating through his own powers his younger brother, which is quite a remarkable set of circle of stances to take place. Now he's Majesty King charge. He has actually put out a statement. I read it for you now, he says, today, I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten Winsor and the suspicion of misconduct in public office. What now follows as the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities in this As I said before, they have our full and a wholehearted support and cooperation. He finish his writing, let me state clearly the law must now take its course. So he's really trying to step back from this. But so historic is this. Everyone wanting to make sure every tea has crossed, every eye has dotted on this, and there has to be seen. Justice has to be seen to be done should Andrew be actually find guilty of any of these crimes as well. So incredibly tenuous, incredibly precious set of circumstances here, precarious really for the royal family. But they're trying to proceed on. We'll just have to wait and see whether Andrew is charged on this charge of this conduct in public office, or if we find other information his devices that they might charge and but other claims against him, likes the that the likes of continued Robertship made against him fools. So we're just at the beginning of his starter right now, just one final one.
00:05:04
Speaker 1: Ben Factions might be too strong a word for it, Schism might be too strong a word for it too. But is there a sort of gap between what King Charles would think of this versus what Prince William would think of this, because there's a lot of people now are saying that. In hindsight, I don't think it's fair to pin it all on the Queen, because the Duke could have done something too. But there's a bit of a sense that the Royals have been running a bit of a protection racket for this for decades. And you never know how true these things are. But I've read so called royal experts say that William has an unabiding disgust for his uncle and thinks that a tougher line should be taken. Is that a factor in this too?
00:05:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, William and Tate have really made no sort of you know, hint about the fact that they can't stand Andrew, I mean, patron of multiple charities that try to combat violence against the women, sort of accusations that have been leveled against him. But the King himself, I mean, he has been one of the larger critics of Andrew as well. You mentioned the late Queen. Well, the problem reason why is it's so difficult for the royal family as well, is that trade on Boyd position, the place that has now got Andrew into such trouble with the law. The Queen was the one that nominated him and sponsored him for that role, and it was he at the time Tony Blair, that with the Queen put him in this job. Now, at the time King Charles was one of the people, if you're going to use the word fashion, he was from the other party. He was saying, no, he's not Andrew is not fit to conduct a role like this. What he's going to do is go around the world and sort of party with models on the on. You know, the company died and the government died, and it's really what it seemed to have happened in a lot of these cases. Of course, Andrew denies any wrongdoing in this case as well, but it appears the King, the Prince and Princess of Wales there of the same mind on this. The Prince and Princess of Wales today came out saying that they support the King's statement. Which Andrew has so few remaining friends now, even as his ex wife Sarah Ferguson, I mean she might very well be dragged into this. She's her naims all through the Epstein files her daughters Beastris and Eugenia. They're saying they're finding it incredibly uncomfortable and they're finding it dis able to talk to their parents as well. So he's really Andrew's really on an island by himself. It's gonna be difficult for him to even fund his legal defense. He doesn't really have an income anymore, and he's been stripping a lot of his outsets too, so it is if he's been out have any allies there there are Stewart far between now.
00:07:28
Speaker 1: Great report Ben Ben Downey in the UK for seven years at Wood Farm.
00:07:32
Speaker 2: Thank you.
00:07:33
Speaker 3: Eight double two three double O double OW is the number for the meet tray this morning thanks to Goodwood Quality Meets. If you've got a slogan for South Australia, we'd love to hear it because terrific and very creative one is coming through eight double two three double double and on the text lines here before right zero eight thirty ninety five. A lot of people this morning, in the context of Andrew, have referenced this being the first time a royal has been arrested in nearly four hundred years. Give you a sense of how different the world was the last time royal was arrested. There was another Charles. Actually it was Charles the First in the sixteen hundreds and the seventeenth century, who was quarreling with the English Parliament at the time, who he still had a view, Charles the First that as a king, you have a divine right to rule. You have a god conferred right to be the king and make decisions, and the Partment was saying, Charlie, we've kind of moved past that. There was an English Civil war as a result, he was tried and executed. That's how long it's been between royalsburg arrested.
00:08:35
Speaker 1: Who made you king? I didn't vote for you.
