Amna Nawaz:
President Trump, meanwhile, is himself facing ongoing questions about the Epstein files. He spoke about Andrew’s arrest on his way to Georgia this afternoon.
President Donald Trump:
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.
Amna Nawaz:
For more on the fallout in the United Kingdom, I spoke earlier today with BBC studio special correspondent Katty Kay.
Katty Kay, welcome back to “News Hour.” Thank you for joining us.
Katty Kay, BBC:
Thank you for having me, Amna.
Amna Nawaz:
So, this moment, the arrest of the brother of a monarch, just how extraordinary and unprecedented a moment is this?
Katty Kay:
Look, we have known for a while that Andrew had this shadow over him. He’d lost his titles. He’d been alienated by the world family. He wasn’t showing up to Christmas events and holiday events. He didn’t appear in any of the family photographs anymore.
So we knew that there was this cloud over Andrew. And yet I think, despite that, I can’t tell you how stunned people were in the U.K. I have been getting texts from people in the U.K. all day saying, this is front-page news. Is it front-page news in the United States?
Which, clearly it is. And it’s because it is unprecedented. You have to go back to 1647 for a monarch to be arrested like this in the United Kingdom. And I think there’s now — of course, it begs a lot of questions about the royal family. It puts a real spotlight on the process of the Epstein investigation, and it raises questions about what is happening in the U.K. compared to what’s happening in the U.S.
But, yes, everybody’s stunned.
Amna Nawaz:
And the reaction that we saw from King Charles himself, right, basically stepping in and saying the law has to take its course now on the investigation, was that a surprise?
Katty Kay:
So what’s unusual about that, and it’s something that may not have been picked up here, is that he signed it himself. That statement is signed by Charles R.
Normally, statements like that, Amna, come from Buckingham Palace or the palace. It’s very unusual for the monarch to put their own name after a statement. And I think it was a sign that the king was trying to show the British public that he is fully supportive of this investigation, wherever it may lead.
Now, he’s already said that in public, but the fact that he came out and he made that statement about how the law has to take its course, I think, shows how desperate the royal family is to say, this is Andrew’s issue. This is not about the rest of the British royal family, because this could be a huge body blow to them.
So they have to try to make this — if they can, they have to try to show the British public they’re supporting the investigation. This is about one individual, one bad apple. It’s not about the king, and it’s not about William and Catherine.
Amna Nawaz:
And I want to underscore here something. This is not related to the allegations that were made by the late Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to Britain and had sex with Andrew when she was a teenager years ago. Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing there. And Giuffre died by suicide last year.
But her family today did praise the arrest. They said: “Today, our broken hearts have been lifted at the news. No one is above the law, not even royalty.”
Katty, on those allegations, is that something that people in Britain want to see investigated further?
Katty Kay:
Ever since Andrew did that disastrous interview with the BBC, in which he failed to express any sympathy for the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, that’s been when he started to be shunned by royal society and shunned in public life.
And I think there is a demand for more information about that. Now, the issue for the royal family, which, as I said, is trying to insulate itself, is that if this goes to trial, there are going to be awkward questions asked to the royal family about the $15 million civil settlement that Andrew paid to Virginia Giuffre.
Where did that money come from? Did it come from entirely Andrew? We don’t know. All of those finances have been so far kind of clouded in secrecy. It just came from the royal purse. Well, did it come from the king? Did it come from only Andrew? Were there other sources of that money?
I think that’s the kind of information that the British public would like more answers to, and, clearly, the American Congress wants answers to as well.
Amna Nawaz:
Another thing we have been reporting on here is sort of the disparity of consequences and accountability we have seen with the Jeffrey Epstein files being released in some form, investigations and resignations at very high levels across Europe, not so much here in the U.S.
Is that resonating in the U.K.?
Katty Kay:
What we have had in the U.S. is more private sector resignations and stepping back from public light. So you have Bill Gates not attending an A.I. summit, speaking at an A.I. summit in India, for example.
But then you don’t get the investigations. You don’t get all of the information. People just step down from something. They pull back from public life. They resign from a high-profile business career, but it’s not the same as it being investigated.
And I think that’s what the disparity is, that you have actual investigations. If Andrew goes to trial, it will be the Crown Prosecution Service will conduct this. The Crown Prosecution Service will conduct, will bring this trial to into fruition.
And it will be the king versus Andrew Mountbatten. And I think that’s what is the difference, is that there is a perception in the U.K. that the law is being applied equally. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor will be sitting in a cell during this time waiting to find out what he’s going to be charged with. And he will be treated like a normal member of the public.
There are no favors being granted to him just because he is the brother of the king. And I think that is what people are noticing in the U.K. and pointing to in the U.S.
Are people being protected? Are certain people not being investigated who should be investigated? And can we trust the reliability of the Justice Department to follow through with the rule of law in the way that the Crown Prosecution Service now seems to be doing, with the full blessing of King Charles, to be honest and frank and do its job in this case?
Amna Nawaz:
Katty Kay, always great to speak to you, especially at this extraordinary moment in time. Thank you so much.
Katty Kay:
Amna, thank you.
