By Marisa Laudadio
2:06pm PST, Mar 6, 2026
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The British royal family is facing a crisis following Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest by U.K. police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The move came weeks after the U.S. Justice Department released emails suggesting he had passed along sensitive government documents to
Jeffrey Epstein while serving as Britain's trade envoy. Despite years of scrutiny over the former Duke of York's ties to Epstein,
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have avoided speaking publicly about the former Prince Andrew — with one notable exception.
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Prince Harry addressed the controversy directly in his 2023 memoir,
Spare, while recounting a conversation he and Meghan Markle had as they worried about their taxpayer-funded security being taken away after they stepped back as senior royals. Harry pushed back against the idea, writing that he told his wife, "…not in the wake of my Uncle Andrew [Mountbatten-Windsor]. He was embroiled in a shameful scandal, accused of the s***** assault of a young woman, [
Virginia Giuffre,] and no one had so much as suggested that he lose his security. Whatever grievances people had against us, s** crimes weren't on the list." But the former Duke of York kept his security while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex lost theirs.
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According to a recent report,
Prince Harry has long been unhappy about comparisons to his uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor since both were forced to step back as senior working royals. "He was frustrated by the comparisons. It was never fair to lump them together," a source told
People. "Harry served his country, did the job well and never engaged in misconduct — yet lost security and housing, while Andrew was protected for years."
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During a sit-down interview with Britain's
Channel 4 during a two-day humanitarian visit to Jordan with wife Meghan Markle the week after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest,
Prince Harry declined to answer questions about his uncle. As the interview began, the Channel 4 reporter acknowledged the police investigation into the former Duke of York's actions, saying, "I understand you don't wish to talk about your family, your uncle, things back in London. You're here because you don't want to distract from the work you're doing on the [World Health Organization] and on Gaza." Harry then answered questions about the purpose of his trip, which highlighted the need for aid to support refugees from Gaza and Syria.
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Prince Harry didn't want to distract from his humanitarian trip to Jordan by talking about his disgraced Uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. "The duke said everything he needed to say some time ago," a source close to Harry told
Newsweek. "What matters now is truth, accountability and justice for the victims."
