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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wonder what happens if the police DON'T bring charges

83 replies

Carycach4 · 21/02/2026 02:01

.... against Andrew? What happens if the police say that after extensive investigations they cannot find evidence of criminal wrongdoing? Has the King jumped the gun a bit, stripping and exiling his brother? Will the RF have egg on their face on the world stage?
Have many organisations, especially media and social media exposed thrmselves to defamation lawsuits from a skint Andy?

OP posts:
ThatFairy · 21/02/2026 02:08

The recent photo of him is strange. He looks... spooked... very scared and shocked looking

BreakingBroken · 21/02/2026 02:12

Charges or not he’s shown very poor judgement regarding who and how he socializes.
Guilty by association.
If he can’t be trusted to behave appropriately in public he needs to be on a very short leash.

ViciousCurrentBun · 21/02/2026 02:21

The Crown Prosecution Service often decide on who is charged and not The Police who can only charge for minor offences.

Carycach4 · 21/02/2026 02:28

ViciousCurrentBun · 21/02/2026 02:21

The Crown Prosecution Service often decide on who is charged and not The Police who can only charge for minor offences.

Ok, well that's semantics, the question is stil the same!

OP posts:
ShakyBake · 21/02/2026 02:29

I'll have a bet with you the RF know a lot more about the accusations then we do at the moment and things will only get worse for Andrew

Daygloboo · 21/02/2026 02:36

Carycach4 · 21/02/2026 02:01

.... against Andrew? What happens if the police say that after extensive investigations they cannot find evidence of criminal wrongdoing? Has the King jumped the gun a bit, stripping and exiling his brother? Will the RF have egg on their face on the world stage?
Have many organisations, especially media and social media exposed thrmselves to defamation lawsuits from a skint Andy?

Even if let off, i doubt anyone of note would want to be associated with him now. He's soiled goods. And anyone crooked wouldnt get any kind of access through him so wouldnt be interested. He'll just become a recluse. He's nearly 70 anyway so wont be doing much from now on. Hes not going to be back on the world stage networking again that's for sure. And anyway, people will get interested in the new royals coming up, not some fat old has been prince.

ThatFairy · 21/02/2026 02:36

I wonder what he's allegedly done. I mean although what he did before was wrong it wasn't illegal. I don't think ? Haven't been keeping up with the news

Okiedokie123 · 21/02/2026 02:42

Charles et al know far more than we do. Charles will have been advised re what to say to the press. I don’t think “jumping the gun” is at all likely.

Emori · 21/02/2026 03:03

ThatFairy · 21/02/2026 02:36

I wonder what he's allegedly done. I mean although what he did before was wrong it wasn't illegal. I don't think ? Haven't been keeping up with the news

Giuffre said he assaulted her. That's illegal. The global press (as in, every media outlet of note and standing) have released emails from him to Epstein passing on confidential international trade information. Communicating confidential information gained through state office is illegal. Whether or not he eventually faces charges is immaterial - the press reporting on this is based on actual evidence that Andrew Saxe-Coburg has done these things. Defamation requires the publication of a lie. The press aren't publishing lies about him. There's no defamation because he sent the emails, reporting that he sent them is the truth and that's not up for debate.

ThatFairy · 21/02/2026 03:06

@Emori I see, thanks for filling me in

Uhohnox · 21/02/2026 03:45

I reckon there's a lot more that has happened that us public don't know about.

It'll eventually leak to the press. I don't even think we know half of it, only a small amount.

NotMeAtAll · 21/02/2026 04:09

He lied publicly about the nature of his association with Epstein and having been involved with Virginia Giuffre. He disgraced the royal family, and the king was within his rights to shun him. The removal of his title wasn't dependent on any future criminal investigation, nor was it a criminal punishment. He may yet be charged and prosecuted, but that's a different issue.

IDontHateRainbows · 21/02/2026 04:16

This is what happens when you give an important job to someone who hasn't worked for it or trained for it in any way, doesn't really want to do it and is arrogant and entitled enough to think the normal rules don't apply.

cabbageking · 21/02/2026 04:27

He has lost his titles for the lies, paying off his accuser, asking his staff to find dirt on his accuser, continuing to meet and email a known pedophile. That is besides his ex wife selling off his contact time which he must have agreed with.

What ever happens next may result in further punishments. I can not say.

InterestedDad37 · 21/02/2026 04:38

This arrest iis all about misconduct in public office (like passing confidential trade info to Epstein, for example). It's not about sex or trafficking (that of course may come later).
He's now under investigation, and it may take a long time to prepare a case against him. So charges are probably not imminent.

Octavia64 · 21/02/2026 04:47

No.

there’s a difference between what is known publicly and what is known privately.

when they stripped him of his titles it was because they knew what was coming and got ahead of the game.

if they are talking about taking him out of the line of succession it’s really bad.

it may or may not come out in public but he’s clearly done (and they clearly have evidence of) some truly horrendous stuff.

gostickyourheadinapig · 21/02/2026 05:12

He would simply keep his current status: sleazy old git who hasn't actually been convicted of anything, but whom no decent person would want to associate with.

ThatFairy · 21/02/2026 05:52

Guys, do you think Virginia Giuffre was murdered ?

Emotionalsupporttissue · 21/02/2026 06:15

InterestedDad37 · 21/02/2026 04:38

This arrest iis all about misconduct in public office (like passing confidential trade info to Epstein, for example). It's not about sex or trafficking (that of course may come later).
He's now under investigation, and it may take a long time to prepare a case against him. So charges are probably not imminent.

I was listening to a podcast yesterday, a lawyer was saying that it's not easy to prove MIAPO, so Andrew could yet get away with it.

HeadyLamarr · 21/02/2026 06:21

ThatFairy · 21/02/2026 05:52

Guys, do you think Virginia Giuffre was murdered ?

What a ghoulish thing to say about a poor woman who'd been trafficked and abused.

Meadowfinch · 21/02/2026 06:25

The same as with anyone else who is arrested under suspicion.
The police will investigate, they compile evidence and then pass it to the Crown prosecution service who will decide whether to bring charges or not.
His arrest can work in AMW's favour in two ways. 1. Now there is an active police investigation, all public speculation in the media must stop or it risks jeopardising the fairness of a future trial. (And of course it won't stop) and secondly, if the CPS decide there is insufficient evidence to proceed, AMW might spend the next 20 years bringing law suits for defamation. It would give him an income and something to do.
Remember also that the CPS must decide whether prosecution is "in the public interest" which will be an interesting one for the lawyers to ponder, both from a security point of view and taking damage to the reputation of the crown into account.

Meadowfinch · 21/02/2026 06:29

ThatFairy · 21/02/2026 05:52

Guys, do you think Virginia Giuffre was murdered ?

No. I think a severely traumatised woman was facing a very difficult home life after years of dealing with a brutal international press, and simply couldn't face the future any more. There was nothing to be gained by her murder, the secrecy around the Epstein affair was already crumbling and other women were coming forward.

LlynTegid · 21/02/2026 06:44

If the CPS decide there is not the reasonable prospect of a conviction and so no further action is taken on the particular charge, that does not stop other actions. The removal of his place in the line of succession will happen, more a case of when, and probably also the formal removal of all titles.

GeneralPeter · 21/02/2026 06:55

I think the significant thing is that the police get to seize his computers.

If they have done that and still can’t find enough for CPS to charge then maybe there is less to this than it seems.

I suspect however that they will find lots more to substantiate a Misconduct in Public Office charge.

It’s going to be politically very tricky though if it goes to trial as much more may come out in his defence. Yet declining to charge would be controversial too.

Sesma · 21/02/2026 07:00

This was all done before his arrest though.