First royal arrest in centuries presents existential crisis for UK’s most powerful family

Until Thursday morning, it had been nearly four centuries since the arrest of a senior British royal.

The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is a fresh nadir for “The Firm”, as the UK’s most powerful family tries to outrun a litany of setbacks and adapt to the 21st century.

In a measure of how much the monarchy has changed, a statement from the king offering full cooperation with the law made no mention of those family ties. Only four years ago, the late queen had rushed to the former prince Andrew’s aid, helping him to settle a sex-abuse suit linking him to Epstein – in which he denied any wrongdoing – for an undisclosed sum.

Charles, by contrast, outlined his “deepest concern” and promised Buckingham Palace’s “full and wholehearted support” for the authorities investigating his brother. “Let me state clearly,” he wrote: “The law must take its course.”