Lindsey German considers the monarchy and its future

How much worse can it get for the royal family? The former prince Andrew may have no reputation left to lose but his actions still have many consequences for his family, the government, the civil service, and the armed forces. I must admit I didn’t think they would actually arrest him, and I still think it unlikely that he will end up in prison. Nonetheless there is real pressure now for far more to come out.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown is demanding answers as to whether RAF planes and bases were used by Andrew to meet Epstein. Commercial airports like Stansted were used to traffic women. According to a report in the Telegraph, an MOD source said it was ‘standard practice’ for private or commercial aircraft to use RAF airfields, as long as they paid fees. They added: ‘Such use is not automatic and will only be approved when there is no adverse impact to military aircraft and where approval would not interfere with the security or smooth running of the airfield.’ Quite remarkable that this is not deemed a security threat while four direct action protestors have been deemed a terror threat for spray painting planes.

Even more damning is Andrew’s role as a trade envoy. Appointed under a Labour government, enthusiastically backed by Peter Mandelson, he was removed a decade later as the scandal around Virginia Giuffre emerged. There are already emails suggesting that he used his position to inform businessmen and other acquaintances about issues that might help them. An article in the Spectator magazine says that those close to government and the royals are fearful of revelations that will show that he leaked defence secrets. Andrew had at the time – in the Ruritanian tradition of the royal family – senior ranks in the army, navy and air force.

There are miles to run with this scandal. Even the mainstream media are now asking who knew what and when. But we already know quite a lot. We know that the royal family tried to stop the full story of sex trafficking emerging and tried to stifle the full extent of his relationship with Epstein coming out. We know that Andrew paid Giuffre £12 million in settlement against her claims, even though he claimed not to know her. This money was allegedly paid by the Queen herself, out of her immense fortune. We know that Andrew continued to meet Epstein and stay in his home after his first conviction for sex with a minor.

The whole affair also throws light on the nature of the monarchy and of successive governments who support it and allow it to maintain its dysfunctional and, in this case, corrupt and sordid lifestyle. It is funded by the public, its travel, houses, lifestyle, all underwritten by public money allocated by governments who voice no criticism of the institution and, usually, of individuals. Andrew was on the civil list and sovereign grant since the age of 18, during which time he received an estimated £13 million to fund his ‘royal work’. The family’s taxes are secret, MPs are not allowed to criticise its members in parliament, and there is virtually no scope for public debate on its existence.

This respect for its privacy extends to the media, which employs a series of ‘royal correspondents’ who would not even be granted access to them unless they were schooled in obsequious and deferential behaviour to royalty. When there is a crisis of this sort, they deal in often irrelevant detail rather than with key issues. So we were told last year it was virtually impossible to strip Andrew of his titles, until it happened overnight. Now there is great fuss about removing him as eighth in line to the throne, but this is a red herring. He has no chance of becoming king unless there were a series of accidents which would remove all those ahead of him – along the lines of the Ealing black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets where the central character murders all 8 of those standing in the way of his dukedom. More importantly, removing him from the succession suggests that the whole system is basically healthy apart from this particularly rotten individual.

It is not. Monarchy, the House of Lords and the honours system are in direct opposition to democracy. They protect the powerful and privileged and suggest that there is some merit in heredity – despite the obvious limits to that theory displayed by the House of Windsor. England established one of the first republics ever following the arrest by a low-ranking army officer and then execution of the absolutist Charles I in 1649. We should demand a Republic again.

There have been very serious scandals involving the royal family in modern times including the backlash following the death of Princess Diana in 1997 and the abdication of fascist sympathising Edward VIII in 1936. Its survival is always regarded as certain, but it relied heavily on the longevity of the late Queen. Her reputation is further damaged by Andrew, but her successor is much less popular or able to withstand stormy weather. The revelation that one of her sons has been involved in such appalling behaviour, and worse which is going to come out, especially in the US, puts the monarchy again in jeopardy.

We have every interest in agitating for its fall.

This week: I will be at the trial of Ben Jamal and Chris Nineham in London this week, where it is so important that we defend the right to protest. The threats to Iran are coming to a head, with a second US aircraft carrier crossing the Mediterranean. As we mark four years of the Ukraine war, with an estimated 1.5 million casualties on both sides, the demand has to be for peace, no more ‘forever wars’ and no threats of nuclear war. I will be joining CND’s demo at RAF Marham next Saturday. Watching the Gorton and Denton by-election closely on Thursday and hoping that the Greens defeat ghastly Reform.