Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the sword of Damocles

He is the author of his own downfall. Andrew is on his own.

For decades, the sword of Damocles has been suspended over the head of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor by that famous single horsehair. For years, that thread has been fraying with each new damaging revelation concerning his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He enjoyed the grand lifestyle and power inherent with being a son of Queen Elizabeth II, yet should have been aware of the precariousness of his position.

On February 19, that thread broke. Rather than celebrating his 66th birthday, he was arrested by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office (Note: while the police didn’t identify him, the King did in his own statement.)

Though Andrew hasn’t been formally charged with a crime, such is the seriousness of his predicament that historians had to go back centuries to discover the last senior royal to be arrested: King Charles I in 1647. That arrogant monarch was accused by Parliamentary forces of treason, in particular for pursuing his own interests rather than those of England. Two years later, he was executed.