Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on February 19, 2026, which just so happened to be the former prince's 66th birthday. After 11 hours of questioning, he was released, and the paparazzi managed to capture a haunting photo of a terrified-looking Andrew in the backseat of a car. Now, one royal reporter has suggested that Andrew believes the photo moment was a "setup."
According to Rob Shuter's Substack, "Andrew is privately seething over the now-iconic image of him slumped in the back of a Range Rover after a day in police custody—and believes someone inside the royal machine tipped off photographers."
A royal source told the outlet, "He thinks this was no accident." The source continued, "Andrew believes The King understands exactly how the press game works—and how powerful one image can be."
Describing Andrew's appearance in the photo, Shuter wrote, "Pale, shaken, visibly rattled—it was a moment many saw as long-awaited accountability."
Per Shuter, the ex-Duke of York is low-key "convinced" that the palace orchestrated the entire moment. As one source claimed, "For Andrew, it felt like a setup." The source elaborated, "He's convinced someone high up knew he'd be there and made sure the press did too."
According to Shuter's source, Andrew "thinks Charles sacrificed him to protect the institution." As the source explained, "In Andrew's view, the monarchy needed a reckoning moment—and he was it."
It's important to note that "palace insiders strongly deny any coordination," according to Shuter, and there's currently no proof of any kind of photographic conspiracy. But it seems clear that ex-Prince Andrew is unhappy about the way he's been portrayed since his arrest, and is looking to assign blame for the photo that's been burned into everyone's retinas.
