The shock of seeing a member of the royal family, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, in the back of a car after he was released from police custody will reverberate in British history for generations to come. The photograph by Phil Noble of Reuters that featured on our front page this week will send a powerful and welcome message, one that has been reinforced in a statement by the King: “The law must take its course.”
There will be those who question that course. Some will argue that the allegations of the sexual abuse of women and girls facilitated by Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender, are more serious than the vague charge of misconduct in public office in relation to the former Prince Andrew’s trade envoy role that prompted the police to act.
