Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is seen being driven away from a police station following his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. Photo / Getty Images
In the not-too-distant past, when Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was still a prince, there was one person he could rely on: His mother.
In troubled times, Elizabeth II would allow him to visit her at Windsor Castle, providing if not a heart-to-heart talk with her errant second son, then at least some company.
In her latter years, as Andrew’s scandals gained notoriety, advisers began to refer wearily to his “tea-with-the-Queen tactic”.
“She was just sorry for him,” one such senior adviser is quoted as saying in a new biography by Robert Hardman. “The others [her children] had spouses, duties, respect. He did not.”
In the three years since the late Queen’s death, Mountbatten-Windsor has been stripped of his titles, honours, styles and home, and arrested on claims of misconduct in public office.
Recent images have seen him cut a lonely figure. First out riding by himself in a rainy Windsor, then walking the dogs alone at Sandringham as he waits to move into his new home at Marsh Farm.
Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife who lived with him at Royal Lodge for decades after their divorce, seems to have disappeared off the face of the planet, successfully making her way around the world between friends, family and spa hotels as she too was embroiled in the embarrassment of the Epstein files.
His children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, appear to have distanced themselves for now.
Enter, finally, his siblings.
The Duke of Edinburgh, better known to the public as Prince Edward, visited Andrew in Sandringham over the Easter weekend.
He is said to be worried about his brother’s “mental state” in the face of extreme public pressure and a continuing police investigation. The Duke and Sophie, his wife, had dinner with Andrew to talk things through.
Buckingham Palace did not comment on any such visit. Nevertheless, it appears to be a tentative show of private support from the wider royal family.
The King, Queen, Prince and Princess of Wales have all distanced themselves from Mountbatten-Windsor, using separate official statements to emphasise that their thoughts are with Jeffrey Epstein’s victims.
The King had taken a “strong line” on Andrew since the latest Epstein revelations, a palace source said, and believed the law must now “take its course” without him being seen to interfere. The Prince of Wales “supports” his father’s actions, Kensington Palace repeats.
Sources close to Prince William say they do not recognise reports that the future King has been in recent personal contact with his uncle.
But as concerns for Andrew’s wellbeing grow, his siblings, Prince Edward and the Princess Royal, appear to have stepped up behind the scenes.
“This is a sibling issue now,” says a source close to the royal family. “Who else does he have left?”
While the iron fist of the monarchy still rules in public, there are small signs of a velvet glove in private.
The Princess Royal, who has more than once been confronted by protesters shouting about Epstein, and ignored them each time, is reported to have telephoned her brother in her usual “independent-minded” way.
Said by Richard Kay, the veteran royal reporter, to have called her brother from Sandringham on Christmas Day to check on his welfare, she has even suggested he move to her Gatcombe Estate to get out of the spotlight.
Prince Edward, asked about Epstein during an on-stage talk in Dubai, said: “I think it’s all really important, always, to remember the victims and who are the victims in all this.”
In private, it seems, there is enough concern that the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have not cut Andrew off entirely.
Those who have seen Mountbatten-Windsor in Windsor and Sandringham claim his behaviour has been at times “erratic”.
“He hasn’t gone quietly [from Royal Lodge], put it that way,” one source says. “He didn’t want to go, and doesn’t want to be at Marsh Farm, but he also doesn’t have much choice.”
The pressure of a police inquiry, which shows no sign of an end date yet, is no small matter, even for a former prince so convinced of his innocence.
He has already voluntarily surrendered his gun licence. Few friends have been seen visiting him, he can no longer be seen on a public golf course and even his hobby of horse riding has been curtailed since moving away from the Windsor mews.
“You don’t have to condone his actions, or think he has made good decisions,” says an observer, of potential sympathy for Mountbatten-Windsor. “But you can still feel some sort of human concern.”
The “tea-with-the-Queen” era may be over. The prospect of tea-with-the-King or the Future King is non-existent as of now.
But a quiet, common-sense lifeline from a brother and sister? It may be just what the late Queen would have wanted.
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.