Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaves the police station in a photograph by Reuters being used during the BBC live coverage.
The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is creating headlines across the world today.
Media around the world have reported on the arrest, with commentators calling it “an unprecedented blow” and a “new low” for the British monarchy. One US news site dubbed it “King Charles’ Watergate”.
Multiple royal experts and columnists refer to the events as “a day of shame”, not just for Mountbatten-Windsor, but for the monarchy, but also “the dawn of a new era”, marked by the downfall of the man who was referred to by many as the late Queen’s favourite son.
Mountbatten-Windsor has long been linked to dead paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and was arrested as part of an investigation into his links to the disgraced financier.
Though he was released a few hours later, the investigation is ongoing.
Here’s how the world media is reporting on the arrest, and subsequent release, of the former prince.
‘Andrew’s arrest is the royals’ greatest day of shame’ - Andrew Tillett in the Australian Financial Review
Writing in the Australian Financial Review, Europe correspondent Andrew Tillett called Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest “the royals’ greatest day of shame”.
“The former prince Andrew’s arrest on his 66th birthday – the first son and brother of a monarch to be arrested in the modern era – at his new home in Sandringham estate is the darkest day for the House of Windsor,” he wrote.
‘An unprecedented blow’ - AFP
The AFP news agency reported that the British royal family has been “thrown into crisis” and called Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest an “unprecedented blow”.
“As Andrew marked his 66th birthday on Thursday, police swooped on his new home on the remote royal eastern Sandringham estate around 8am,” the agency reported.
“King Charles III, who has promised police the full support of Buckingham Palace, swiftly issued a rare personally signed statement insisting ‘the law must take its course’.
“It was a humiliating new blow for Andrew, who was last year stripped of his titles, and ousted from his Windsor residence of more than two decades.
AFP quoted royal expert Ed Owens, who called it a “hugely significant moment for the British monarch, and indeed the [British] nation”.
“We are witnessing a monarchy, I think, shaken by recent events.”
‘Unprecedented in modern times’ - Reuters
British news agency Reuters published an already-iconic photograph of Mountbatten-Windsor leaving Norfolk police station.
The former prince appears shocked, slouched back into the backseat of the vehicle as he is driven off the premises after nearly 11 hours of questioning.
“The arrest of the senior royal, eighth in line to the throne, is unprecedented in modern times,” the agency wrote, adding that the former prince appeared “visibly shaken” when he left the station.
‘Crown wince’ - NY Post
The New York Post reported on the arrest with the wordplay “crown wince”, sharing the photograph of “wide-eyed” Andrew in the back of a car after he was released under investigation.
The US-based publication described him as “shellshocked” after hours of questioning over his ties to Epstein.
Why Prince Andrew’s Epstein arrest is King Charles’ Watergate - Daily Beast
The Daily Beast’s European editor-at-large, Tom Sykes, compared the situation to Watergate.
“If the crisis now engulfing the monarchy were to end in abdication, the parallels with Watergate, which ended with Richard Nixon helicoptering out of the White House, would be unavoidable,” Tom Sykes wrote in the Daily Beast.
“For the central question now is not simply what Prince Andrew did, but what King Charles knew and when he knew it. That question destroyed Richard Nixon. It could yet unseat a sovereign,” he added.
‘Entitled Andrew’s arrest is a stain that will live long in royal family’s memory’ - Russell Myers in The Daily Mirror
Royal editor Russell Myers called Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest “a disturbing and sorry state of affairs” for the British royal family.
“No matter what the outcome of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s very public arrest and his questioning on serious allegations of misconduct in a public office, the very sight of multiple police cars turning up on the King’s private estate, to arrest his own brother, is a stain that will live long in the memory,” Myers wrote.
“When so much is done to carefully orchestrate a world of PR around the royals, they have been utterly undone by one of their own,” he added.
‘No warning’ - News.com.au
Australia news site news.com.au says the royal family was blindsided by Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest, with the King being given no prior warning that the police operation would unfold.
The site quotes Ailsa Anderson, a former press secretary for Mountbatten-Windsor’s late mother Queen Elizabeth, who told the BBC: “He looked dazed, he looked shell-shocked, he was slouching down”.
UK Government aware the arrest would take place - CNN
While the King, according to multiple accounts, was none the wiser, CNN in the US reports that the UK Home Office was alerted by police chiefs that they would be arresting Mountbatten-Windsor for questioning.
‘Andrew enters a new era – and Britain too’ - Simon Jenkins in The Guardian
“What happens next hardly matters: the mystique and awe surrounding the royals had been shattered. The former prince’s arrest must change everything,” Guardian columnist and BBC broadcaster Simon Jenkins wrote.
‘Anguished’ Andrew - El País
Reporting on the Reuters image that is circulating all over the world, Spanish newspaper El País wrote that Mountbatten-Windsor looked “anguished” as he left the police station after more than ten hours of questioning.
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