{"id":437226,"date":"2026-02-21T03:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T03:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/437226\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T03:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T03:28:09","slug":"calls-to-abolish-british-monarchy-amid-andrew-epstein-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/437226\/","title":{"rendered":"Calls to Abolish British Monarchy Amid Andrew-Epstein Row"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the wake of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest<\/a> on suspicion of misconduct in public office, some U.K. lawmakers are calling for an independent inquiry into the royal family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere must be an independent inquiry into what the royal family knew about his Epstein links,\u201d said Richard Burgon<\/a>, a member of the ruling Labour Party. <\/p>\n

Burgon went a step further, suggesting it\u2019s \u201ctime for a serious national debate about abolishing the monarchy.\u201d He argued that even if people disagree, there should at least be a discussion over \u201cthe role of hereditary privilege in our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawmaker\u2019s comments came shortly after Thames Valley Police revealed that Andrew had been \u201creleased under investigation\u201d Thursday evening. The younger brother of King Charles III was photographed returning to the royal estate in Sandringham, Norfolk, after leaving police custody.<\/p>\n

While the specifics of the allegations that led to Andrew’s arrest have not yet been disclosed, Thames Valley Police previously confirmed to TIME on Feb. 9 that they were \u201cassessing the information\u201d regarding allegations that Andrew\u2014while serving as the U.K. trade envoy\u2014shared confidential government reports with Jeffrey Epstein, detailing trips to Singapore, China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam in 2010 and 2011.<\/p>\n

The allegations stemmed from documents released in the U.S. Justice Department’s final drop of Epstein files on Jan. 30. Andrew, who features in the documents, is facing renewed scrutiny over his ties to Epstein and his own conduct. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Speaking to TIME earlier this month, after the release of the files but prior to Andrew\u2019s arrest, Burgon described the allegations against Andrew as \u201cincredibly serious\u201d and said \u201cthe people who have committed crimes of the nature alleged, obviously need to face the full force of the law, whoever they are\u2026 no one should be allowed to evade proper justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burgon is not the only U.K. lawmaker calling for an inquiry.<\/p>\n

Zack Polanski<\/a>, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said Friday morning that there are \u201clots of questions to be asked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need a full statutory inquiry into public figures from institutions,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n

Polanski also raised the issue of potentially abolishing the monarchy, something which he has previously voiced support<\/a> for.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe monarchy are doing a pretty good job in themselves of not having their proudest moments over various issues we\u2019ve seen in the last couple of years and, when the public are ready to have that national conversation about the monarchy, I think issues like this certainly don\u2019t help the monarchy\u2019s case,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Former Labour lawmaker Zarah Sultana, who is now a member of Your Party, also brought into question the future of the royal family in her response to news of Andrew\u2019s arrest, simply stating: \u201cAbolish the monarchy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many U.K. Members of Parliament (MPs) have long been eager to discuss the Andrew controversy in a more public forum.<\/p>\n

In October, Rachael Maskell of the Labour Party attempted to initiate a parliamentary debate over Andrew and his association with Epstein. She introduced a bill<\/a> that would strip him of the remainder of his titles.<\/p>\n

Despite support from a number of lawmakers, including Burgon and Sultana, the government rejected the calls for a debate. When asked about the matter, a Downing Street spokesperson reportedly told the BBC: \u201cWe know that the royal family would not want to take time from other important issues.\u201d <\/p>\n

Andrew was officially removed of his remaining titles weeks later.<\/p>\n

Hours before Andrew\u2019s arrest, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was asked if a debate over the royal, and his connections to Epstein, could still take place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there is a debate going on in and around parliament. There will be no prohibition of that, as far as I’m concerned… Certainly, it concerns parliamentarians and I wouldn\u2019t stand in the way of it. I think it\u2019s important we discuss all of these cases,\u201d he told the BBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the U.K. House of Commons, there is no general prohibition on the discussion of members of the royal family in parliament. However, \u201cMPs and peers are required to observe certain rules<\/a>, if they wish to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

King Charles, meanwhile, has repeated his assurances that he will support the authorities as they investigate Andrew.<\/p>\n

Expressing his \u201cdeepest concern\u201d over the arrest on Thursday, His Majesty said: \u201cWhat now follows is 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 have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law must take its course,\u201d he added, in a statement Buckingham Palace shared with time.<\/p>\n

Thames Valley Police continued its investigations into Andrew on Friday by searching his former mansion in Windsor, Berkshire. The police force, which is being supported by Norfolk Police, completed its searches on Andrew\u2019s Norfolk address on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Andrew\u2019s communications with Epstein appear to be at the focus of the legal investigation.<\/p>\n

The most recent drop of Epstein files uncovered an email<\/a> originally sent to someone titled \u201cThe Duke,\u201d which was then forwarded to Epstein. It reads: \u201cPlease find attached the visit reports for Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shenzhen in relation to your recent visit to South East Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another email<\/a> from “The Duke” to Epstein included mention of a \u201cconfidential brief\u201d and appeared to detail an investment opportunity in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

Prior to being stripped of his royal titles last year, Andrew was known as the Duke of York.<\/p>\n

The documents released by the DOJ also included a photograph of Andrew leaning over a woman on the floor. The woman\u2019s face had been redacted and it\u2019s unclear when or where the photograph was taken.<\/p>\n

The image appeared on a screen behind U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as she testified before the House Judiciary Committee over the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files on Feb. 11.<\/p>\n

\"AttorneyA photo of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is displayed as U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Win McNamee\u2014Getty Images<\/p>\n

Separately, police are also reviewing a fresh allegation that Epstein sent a woman to Andrew at the Royal Lodge residence in Windsor in 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are aware of reports about a woman said to have been taken to an address in Windsor in 2010 for sexual purposes,\u201d a Thames Valley Police spokesperson told TIME on Feb. 4. \u201cWe are assessing the information in line with our established procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous allegations against Andrew<\/p>\n

Andrew\u2019s relationship with Epstein\u2014and the fact he continued communicating with the disgraced financier after his initial conviction\u2014has long been scrutinized.<\/p>\n

Epstein was initially sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in 2008 after pleading guilty to state charges\u2014one count of soliciting prostitution and one count of soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18. He was in custody once more awaiting trial on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors when he died in a New York jail cell<\/a> in 2019.<\/p>\n

Andrew was famously interviewed on BBC\u2019s Newsnight<\/a> in 2019 and questioned over why he visited Epstein in New York in 2010.<\/p>\n

The royal was accused of sexual abuse himself by one of Epstein\u2019s most prominent victims, the late Virginia Giuffre. He strongly denied the allegations and, during his Newsnight interview, said he had no recollection of ever meeting her.<\/p>\n

In January 2022, Andrew was stripped of his key military titles and royal patronages in the midst of a civil sexual abuse case brought forward by Giuffre. A month later, he settled the lawsuit<\/a> with Giuffre for an undisclosed amount.<\/p>\n

Andrew was stripped of the remainder of his titles in late 2025, after additional allegations by Giuffre (who died in April 2025)<\/a> came to light in her posthumous memoir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the wake of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office, some U.K. lawmakers are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,595,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-437226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-news-desk","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}