The Royals with Roya and Kate - "Rude, arrogant and entitled" - MPs criticise Andrew in the Commons

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

In an extraordinary break with convention, this week MPs were allowed to debate Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct and his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in the Commons. A week after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office, calls are growing for transparency and even changes to the line of succession. Roya Nikkhah and Kate Mansey ask Russell Myers, royal editor of the Daily Mirror and author of the new book about William and Catherine, what this constitutional moment means for the future of the monarchy and for William.Guest: Russell Myers, Royal Editor at The Daily Mirror & author of William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to the Royals, the podcast where we give you insight into what happens behind the palace walls and why it matters. I'm Kate Mancy. And I'm Royne Nicar. Rude, arrogant and entitled. An extraordinary moment in the Commons this week as trade minister, Sir Chris Bryant, used those exact words to describe Andrew Mountbatten, Windsor. In a major break with convention, MPs were told they're now free to debate. Andrew's conduct and his relationship with Geoffrey Epstein inside Parliament. It's an historic moment for the royal family. But with these precedents being set now,

what will this new level of scrutiny mean for the future of the monarchy? And how will William, the King in Waiting, navigate a future defined not by tradition, but by the fallout of this unprecedented scandal? Lots of questions this week. So we are delighted to be joined by Russell Myers, Royal Editor of the Daily Mirror and author of the new biography William and Catherine The Intimate Inside Story

which is out now. Welcome to the Royals. Thank you very much for having me. We have had an extraordinary few weeks and few months on this patch. Last week I think, you know, was next level in terms of events. Andrew Matt Batten, Windsor, arrested

on suspicion of Ms. Connolly and Public Office. Where does events of the last week sort of sit in terms of what you've seen in your time as a role editor? The term unprecedented, it seems to be banded around quite a lot, but I can't imagine a period like this one. Because with all the Sussex is falling out, the infighting scandal, lots of rumours floating around about the allegations concerning Andrew. I mean, this is absolutely extraordinary. We've got the king making two statements in a matter of a couple of weeks talking about how the law must take its course.

Heard about how deeply and profoundly concerned both he and the Prince of Princess Wales are. But this is deeply damaging, I think, to the royal family because you've got members of Parliament standing up in the House of Commons using words like your intro, rude, arrogant, entitled. It's a line in the sand, I think, and it may be very difficult to claw that back. So just to recap and sort of bring everyone up to speed where we are, although this is the biggest story pretty much in the world at the moment

that's running every day. Last Thursday, Andrew McBatton-Winzor was arrested at his home at Sandringham on suspicion and misconduct in a proper officer. He was interrogated for around 11 hours. in a police station. He was released home pending police investigation. He denies any wrongdoing. And that's where we are at the moment. He has not been charged with anything as we record. Extraordinary week, just recapping that. Well, and the fact that the police were turning up to the King's Estate.

I know. And he didn't even know about it. And we know that they just finished searching all the homes yesterday. Yeah. So we're a week on from that arrest now. And the real development this week happened in Westminster. On Tuesday, the Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle told the comments that they're now free to debate the conduct of Andrew and his relationship with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. MPs were told not to discuss other members of the royal family. MPs were also cautioned not to prejudice any potential legal proceedings following the arrest. And MPs debated and backed a Liberal Democrat motion calling for the release of government papers on Andrew's appointment as a UK special representative for international trade that decade. that he had when he was working member of the Royal Family,

working on behalf of Britain PLC effectively, flying all around the world. And because police investigation is active, ministers are warning they can't put anything in the public domain that could prejudice potential proceedings at the moment, but this certainly seems to be coming down the line. Just some of the things that came out of politicians' mouths that even days ago we wouldn't have dreamed they would say in the House,

I was so struck by Sir Dhabi, leader of the Liberal Democrats, saying that Andrew had shamed our country. And as ministers, politicians across all sides of the House, anecdote after anecdote, after anecdote kept coming, didn't it? About his behaviours. Everyone had an experience of him. What did you make of the fact that Parliament has changed so significantly in its approach towards discussing him? Well, the days and the years of deference are over. and that is something that the palace, I'm sure, were very concerned about, especially when the late Queen passed away, what was the mood of the public going to be? But even if there was a growing Republican movement, you couldn't have foreseen the days of members of parliament standing up and saying a catalogue of their own reflections about Mountbatten Winter. Sir Ed Davy actually said that Andrew had been a stain on the country.

I think that's an extraordinary level of rhetoric coming from a senior politician. somebody who is widely respected within the commons, well known throughout the public. And it is difficult. I think the Royal Family finds itself in a bit of a bind at the moment because how on earth can you start to pull this back? Of course, the King said, forget his exact words, but we stand ready to do our duty as we all have done.

And of course, keep calm and carry on, the old adage. But is it going to be that easy? Can you keep on going to Wales that the Prince and Princess Wales have done today? Charles going on with the job while this is all happening in the background. It's the age of deference, isn't it? It's over. But also, we're seeing a total shift, aren't we?

Because the clerk from the 1800s, Thomas Erskine May, who set down the rules of parliament. And one of those rules that he said during Queen Victoria's reign was that you can't disparage the conduct of the monarch, their heir, and other members of the royal family. So Lindsay Hall, the speaker this week, sort of said, well, Andrew's no longer a working member of the royal family. It's fair game. It felt like they weren't short of material. It felt watching the highlights and listening to it on the radio as if they had all been sitting on that for months and years.

So many politicians came out with anecdotes, personal experience of just how difficult Andrew had been to deal with in lots of different countries, also in the UK, in that decade. We don't know exactly what the police are looking at. We know that they are looking at something to do with some of the release of the EPSD, files, which appear to suggest that he shared highly confidential and sensitive information with associates like Jeffrey Epstein from that decade. But it really felt like a complete sort of tidal wave of a change in the way that politicians approach the royal family.

And certainly, you know, it's not just people's own personal reflections. It is potential diplomatic cables. What were the warnings? Were the royal family aware of this? Well, we've heard from various sources about Andrew's conduct. Now, that is aside from the allegations of misconduct, but I think, you know, you might have this sort of blurring of the lines, and then there will be questions to answer, not only from politicians or diplomats, but perhaps from the royal family. It's important to say, of course, that, you know, Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing, but it's interesting, isn't it, how that conversation is changing?

So when you're talking in Parliament, obviously you have the kind of privilege that protects them, that enables them to say things that sometimes can't even be printed in the papers beforehand. And you're right, there were... They're cheering up. And even, you know, they were actually interestingly even talking about rumors that they'd heard, you know, that he always traveled with an ironing board, which they said was a euphemism for a massage table. So the rumors now are coming into the fray in a kind of protected way while this police investigation is going on. You made the point. Although Lindsay Hoyle said, you know, it shouldn't be open, seasoned for an attack on all members of the royal family.

But it does reflect not just on Andrew, doesn't it reflects on the whole family, the wider family. Well, it does. I mean, if you start scratching the surface of privilege and entitlement, which Andrews seem to have in abundance, then where does it stop? People may start asking questions, you know, why do we need the royal family? Why do we even need them representing the public? Are they bound by the same rules and regulations and code of conduct that we expect from our politicians? You've hit on something now, haven't you, about the ramification for the wider royal family, because this week the conversation turned to the order of succession. And Andrew, who remains the eighth in line to the throne. And despite not being a prince anymore, despite not being the Duke of York anymore, there are now movements and discussion about whether that should be an act in Parliament to remove him from the line of succession.

So that will have ramification and that kind of idea that you're not necessarily born into it. Well, if you are, and you don't deserve it, you can be booted out. How does you see that going? Well, again, I think it will take a long time to get to that, it seemed that it was a right course of action from the government. They needed to make a statement on it. You've now got Australia and New Zealand queuing up. You can't imagine that any

of the other realms are going to object to the removal of Andrew. And it's interesting, I think, the time in which it has taken to get to this point because a lot of the media have been asking those questions off the palace and I've government for a very, very long time since last October when the titles were removed. And since the start of this year, constantly every week, the palace are like, why would we do that? It's never going to happen. He's so. far down the line. He'll never be called on as a council of the state. And then a couple of weeks ago, it completely changed me. I called up the palace and they were like, well, that's a matter for parliament, but we wouldn't stand in their way if they did it. And then the

next week, a few days later, we'd get the announcement from government. So my view is I think that's been too slow. And I also, you know, I think people will increasingly start to question the delay in that. The theory being that government and the royal household don't want to prejudice any potential further investigation? The issue here is about public perception. And I think we would agree that the palace has been pretty slow off the mark to recognise the level of public disquiet over this. Now, the public have felt very, very strongly about this whole business for a long, long time.

And you're right, the palace would say, well, that's something that wouldn't happen. Why would we get into the weeds of it? And now we're obviously seeing this sort of cascade of things happening because the pressure is on them. Coming up, what could this current moment mean for William when he becomes king? Your new books come out, well, William and Catherine. And in the fallout of Andrew's arrest, we've seen a little bit, perhaps, of William's response, haven't we? So at the BAFTA's on Sunday night, William, whose patron was there with the Princess of Wales,

and they made their first joint engagement together for a while. William was asked if he had watched Hamnet yet, the film, obviously, that's based on the sun. that William Shakespeare lost. It's very emotional. The critics have been in floods of tears watching it. And Kate said that she had watched it. It would be very emotional.

And he replied, maybe tellingly, I need to be in quite a calm state. And I'm not at the moment. Of course, everybody read in to the fact there's a front page story for some of the papers. What do you think that signal? And do you think he was doing that deliberately?

Well, I do, actually. I think it's open to interpretation, of course. Certain people of the Palace will say it was about the film and nothing but the film, it wasn't an off-the-cuff remark in my view. He knew that the reporters were there and anything he does say in public

surrounding the last couple of weeks or indeed the wider scandal, he has to choose his words carefully. And I think that he knew that that would be open to interpretation. And I don't think it's a bad thing because people want to hear more from him personally. But he can't speak, of course. The king has been, it's interesting, isn't it?

William is able to stand near, reporters and cameras and he knows that those comments will be picked up. The king does it in a slightly different way and that he's put in all these written statements and you can debate whether or not you think we should have heard from him. You know, personally I think we should have done. I think some of those statements are fine. I think hearing from him directly with those statements would have been better. But he has sort of, you know, the words that he keeps saying are, you know, profound concern, deep concern and the arm's lengthness of, you know, describing him as Andrew Matt, Matt, and Windsor, there's no reference to brother. But they both, both the king and

William are very keen to try and sort of say, you know, he's literally over there. He couldn't be any further over there. Absolutely. He's on his own. William's doing it in a slightly more kind of immediate way. Now, you in, you know, obviously with your new book out, has spent a lot of time researching, talking to people close to William and to Catherine. And one of the things that's come out of your book is to do with Andrew in the perception of Andrew in the family, William's own perception of Andrew. And there's a section in your book which talks about the disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview which of us can forget

the extraordinary lines that came out in the Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis. Now, tell us a little bit more about what you've discovered, particularly with regards to Williams' attitude towards Andrew, the reputational risk and all of that. Well, certainly I think it's no surprise and it was no secret of William's

opinion of his uncle. He thought he was a bit of a bore. He was very disapproving of his attitude and his relationship with his staff. What I found fascinating was discovering after the Newsnight interview, which millions of people are very, very aware of, and it's been talked about so much, that William was absolutely adamant in that moment, in that exact moment, that this whole business will be a stain on the family.

He is far better being exiled. It shows strong leadership, not from him, but from the late Queen and his father. And he was very, very clear on that. And I think when you look at William's position here, he obviously, fits into the hierarchy of the monarchy, respects it wholeheartedly. But he's got to have one eye on his future. And he had the foresight to sink. You know, if this isn't dealt with, then we will take the flag for it. And, you know, what has happened over the last few weeks. And presumably, you know, William has never minded that narrative being out. That narrative, as you say,

you've got some great facts there, has been around William and his uncle for a long, long time. For sure. Presumably, people close to William were happy to tell you. you know, how he felt about it. Well, I mean, that moment is very, very clear. Yeah. I think, you know, we all know it had not been any secret, both himself and Harry didn't have really an affection for their uncle. Their cousins are very, very different relationship.

But, you know, again, it comes back to who was letting Andrew get away with this entitled behaviour? And it's very very different to how the King is with his staff, how William and Catherine, people have worked for them for many, many years. You know, Andrew, you know, didn't care less who was working for him, it seems. And his whole attitude really has been like that for many, many years. And certainly people, yeah, as you say, were not too shy of explaining the relationship between him and William. For me, it was the statements, wasn't it, when we went to Saudi Arabia and we had Prince William saying in the morning how concerned he was about the revelations about Andrew, this was before the arrest.

A few hours later, we had the king saying, you know, almost the same thing about his concerns. what do you think this means for the order of succession now? I mean, can you see William, you know, somebody who you studied in depth for months and months to produce this book? Can you see him changing the way that the royal family is structured in that respect? We're talking about the line of succession and taking Andrew out of it. Can you see William doing something more radical perhaps? I know it will be up to Parliament, but in terms of slimming that down. think that there wasn't an overriding movement to take Andrew out the line of succession.

It was deemed difficult. It was deemed, you know, putting more information out into the public sphere that they needed to. But what I am very clear on is that William would have taken immediate action had that action not been taken in October last year. You know, I think that his own personal view was cemented after the Newsnight interview, compounded by how he felt with his uncle, but you look at the way that William and Catherine want to structure their own household, much more corporate-like, much more accountable, do away with the men in grey suits. You know, we've all heard about them from Harry's book and other members of the royal family, but certainly have it much more accountable and relatable, because, you know, this is a family

business at the end of the day. And if it isn't, if people can't identify with what the reasons that the royal family exist for, then their future is going to be very, very, very, very, difficult. And that is exactly what him and Catherine have, certainly one eye on, is their future. What do you make, Russell, of the royal family's literal and physical response to the last week? We saw on the day Andrew was arrested, the king going out and opening London Fashion Week, the Princess Royal, doing a few engagements, including visiting a prison in Leeds. The Queen did a couple of engagements. I was told that that morning, they were sounded out about whether or not they all wanted to go ahead with the engagements. And then they said to me,

it was the shortest conversation I've ever had there. They were all determined to do it. We had Kate at the rugby at the weekend. We had them at the BAFTAs on Sundays we've talked about. We've had them at again today in Wales supporting volunteers in Paris. There is very much this sort of like onwards from them. They know that they might be heckled here and there. They have been, all of them.

What do you make of the sort of response to trying to put a brave face on the whole thing? Well, there's several points, I think. What are they expected to do? Go into the bunker, the war room. discuss it until you can't discuss it anymore. This is not going to be solved overnight. The UK government has said the Act of Parliament or removing him from the line of succession

will only take place after those investigations. Now you can bet your bottom dollar that the police are going to leave no stone unturned because if they don't have a thorough investigation then they will be criticised. But I think what else can they do? And again, the king cannot be any clearer. I mean, he said it himself,

let me state clearly, the law must take. its course. And so they are distancing themselves. And I think, you know, they are right. There will be an inquiry, whether it's a public inquiry or an inquiry at the palace, as to how on earth this situation has unfolded. And William may have the opinion of, I told you so. I'm sure he wouldn't say that to his father. But they have to keep calm, carry on. That's the only thing they can do. So coming back to the book now, is there anything you think you've learned, Russell, about the personalities of William and Kate? And how do they cope when they're under

pressure. I went into the project with an open mind of, you know, I didn't know too much of the granular detail of William's early life, but I thought that taking it right back to his childhood and Catherine's and then bringing you up to the present day, when William was widely criticised at the time, you know, he was not willing to rush into royal duties, he was thinking about whether he wanted to stay in the military, obviously went on to join the air ambulance. No, allegations he was a bit lazy. Well, he was work shy wills, wasn't he? And that was in all the papers being played out time and time again. And yet it was from the very top that it had to sign off of saying,

take this time to enjoy yourself because this is a job for life. And I think people forget that a lot of the time. Catherine has been criticised for years about, you know, why wasn't she better at public speaking? Hadn't she chosen the pillars of her work? Are they doing enough jobs? The way that they've shaped the role, I'm sure we'll come onto that, is very, very different to generations of roles before them.

how I found them to be was very much the foundations of their partnership was really solidified from a very early on period at university and after the breakup. And Catherine, you know, wanting something more than just being, you know, one of the most photographed women in the world and having a profile. She's very, very in the weeds and the detail of the foundation and what the monarchy will look like in the future. And I found that absolutely fascinating. Can I pick up on William's relationship with his grandmother?

Because as someone said to me last week, the Queen's reputation is going to take a bit of a battering over the Andrew problem. There's been so much written about and discussion about the fact that the Queen indulged Andrew, turned a blind eye to some of his behaviour, didn't really want to hear about it, wasn't one family confrontation. The suggestion being that when she forced him to step back in 2019 after Newsnight, really she should have gone further. William has spoken very, you know, respectfully about his grandmother of the years. he's also quite a few times she talked about the difference in style that she took a much more sort of traditional

route to monarchy and the way she went about things. Do you think he would disagree with the way she handled things at the time? I think he would but it's very, very difficult he would never come out and say that.

I mean he was absolutely respectful of the late Queen's decision. He didn't agree with it. He was very, very steadfast in his view that it would be a stain on family. And he said, you know, that he should be banished before the rot set in and look at what we've seen, demonstrated now. There's a lot of talk about whether the monarchy would survive this. Of course it will. And it has to be, it has to learn for the mistakes of the past.

And he disagreed with his father as well. But the thing with William is he wouldn't labour the point. I think that's the difference when you look at how Harry has approached certain issues with his family. He feels aggrieved because he hasn't been listened to. William made a point. His point wasn't taken on board. He moves on. And he moved on. In terms of your research and what you've put down in the book, what are your sort of key takeaways from what a reign of King William and Queen Catherine might look like?

You know, there's a lot of talk about change. William uses the word a lot. We don't quite know exactly what those changes are going to be, other than restructuring the household very quickly. And do you think he is ready and she is ready? Obviously, long live the king. Sure. Could be many years off.

But it also good. And that's a good point because I think that certainly William, and Catherine would not want to take the top job, as it were, prematurely. They hope the king is doing quite well now with his treatment. They hope he lives a long and fruitful life for many years. William is still an understudy. He wants to do things his own way. He talks about change, change for good, what does that look like?

I mentioned the corporate, like, structure of the palace. I think that that will change considerably. It would be a smaller team. We've seen that demonstrated with how they operate their Kensington Palace team. Looking under the bonnet is the constant phrase. And that is exactly what it's saying. about the Duchy. There's been criticism about it hasn't moved quick enough, but it's a big organisation. He hasn't essentially run a business like this before. You need to go in like a CEO

and look at the moving parts. And I think that's what will happen in the institution as well. If you want to be across everything that is operating at such a level in this institution, and be responsible for it as well, because I think accountability and responsibility is two buzzwords we hear these all the times about impact and scale. Well, particularly now in this era, you know, post-deference, I suppose. Absolutely. And, you know, I think being across the detail, you mentioned about King William. I think it's not just the King. And this came up time and time again.

People have known them for 20, 25 years, worked with them for many years, understand who they are as people. It is absolutely a partnership. And what surprised me, perhaps, was how much William relies on Catherine, you know, not just professionally. they work together an awful lot, but also emotionally. You know, they are very, very in tune with what the other wants, and they don't necessarily operate in silo. And that surprised me because I would have thought

that they have their own separate business interests in terms of their pillars that they work. But indeed, of working together with a real partnership is really important for them. And I think a good thing for the institution. So a good team. Great team. And thanks for building our team this week.

It's been really nice to have you. Thank you very much for having me on. Thanks to Russell Myers for joining us this week and sharing what he knows about his new book. Russell can be our wingman any time. His new book, William and Catherine, the intimate inside story, is out now. And we have some exciting news here at the Royals podcast. We've received over one million downloads. It's all thanks to you, our listeners and viewers, thanks a million.

And to continue the conversation around what is the biggest story at the moment, we'd really love to know what your view is. on what should happen next. So should the government move to remove Andrew from the line of succession, for example? Email us your thoughts and questions. Our email is the royals at the times.k.k. And if you'd like to watch the podcast,

you can do so on our YouTube channel. Search Times Royals for the latest Royal News. And that's all for this week. Thanks for listening.