By Marisa Laudadio
2:44pm PST, Feb 25, 2026
_
Royal biographer
Jonathan Dimbleby, a longtime friend of the sovereign, said King Charles III has been deeply affected by recent developments involving brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his links to convicted predator
Jeffrey Epstein. "It would be astonishing if he wasn't concerned. Appalled by the allegations. And, of course, affected [in] his role as monarch because the headlines are all about this. No institution wants that," Dimbleby recently told the BBC's
Newsnight.
_
Jonathan Dimbleby, who wrote 1994's The Prince of Wales: An Intimate Portrait — the authorized biography of King Charles — further suggested that the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor situation is taking a personal toll on the monarch behind the scenes. "[The king's] emotions… he is very good at withstanding pressure," Dimbleby told the BBC's Newsnight, but "I think he will be feeling the pain of this."
_
King Charles III clearly has strong feelings about brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, royal biographer Jonathan Dimbleby added, considering the monarch stripped the former Duke of York of his royal titles and evicted him from his 30-room mansion, Royal Lodge, in recent months amid renewed scrutiny of his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. "But he is a brother," Dimbleby explained to the BBC's Newsnight. "Now, they may not be that close, but he is nonetheless a brother."
_
After evicting Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from his Crown Estate home of more than 20 years, King Charles III arranged for the former Duke of York to live in a smaller property on the monarch's privately owned land. "I suspect now that [the former Prince Andrew] has been banished to an open prison somewhere on the Sandringham estate, [Charles] will be sensing the need to give duty of care," old friend and biographer Jonathan Dimbleby told the BBC's Newsnight, given his brother is a "broken, finished man at best."
_
King Charles III's feelings about sibling Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor clearly remain complicated. The former Duke of York is now under investigation following his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Police launched their probe after emails made public by the U.S. Justice Department appeared to show Mountbatten-Windsor sent confidential government information to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein while serving as Britain's trade envoy. In the wake of his brother's arrest, the king issued a remarkable statement saying there must be a "full, fair and proper" investigation, that "the law must take its course," and that the probe would have the monarchy's "full and wholehearted support and cooperation."
