The news cameras faithfully kept vigil this week in Windsor, England, outside the gates of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home, where the police continued their searches. And locals, who flock to the rambling green space of Windsor Estate to walk, bike, run or ride horses, continued to debate the impact of the scandal unfolding around him.
“Andrew’s time is up,” said Sue Jones, 70, who lives in Windsor and was walking to lunch with two friends on an unexpectedly mild Monday as she commented on the accusations against Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, who was known as Prince Andrew until late last year. “If it had happened in Tudor times, he would have been slung in the Tower of London.”
Her friend Madelaine Beckley, 59, had sympathy for his mother. “I think it’s a good job the queen isn’t here anymore for all of this,” she said, adding, “She didn’t put a foot wrong, and it’s such a shame that her children have let her down.”
Others were less involved, reflecting a public that has become either increasingly apathetic or negative about the monarchy.
“Honestly, I do not care at all about him,” said Jenny Finnerty, who lives nearby. “I’ve got my own family to worry about.”
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested last week and released 11 hours later as part of an investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office. The accusations are connected to his relationship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; he has not been charged with any crime. The news has dominated headlines around the world, especially on the front pages of British newspapers.
Many outlets prominently featured an image of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor looking shellshocked as he slumped in the back of a vehicle that was leaving the police station.
The Daily Mail carried the headline “DOWNFALL” and described the former prince as “looking haggard, shamed and haunted.” The Sun accompanied the photo with the headline “Now He’s Sweating,” referring to a disastrous 2019 BBC interview in which Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor disputed the account of Virginia Giuffre, who said he was sweating when dancing with her at a club in 2001. He said he was not with her that night and added he was unable to sweat because of a medical condition, an assertion that prompted ridicule and backlash.
For years, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has been fighting off accusations that he sexually abused Ms. Giuffre. He settled a lawsuit she brought against him, paying her an undisclosed amount and also denying any wrongdoing.
Last week, his brother King Charles III issued a statement offering the authorities in Britain his “full and wholehearted support and cooperation” in the investigation into misconduct in public office.
But the steady drip of revelations about Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Mr. Epstein, even after the financier’s conviction in 2008, has already taken a toll on national perceptions of the royal family. Polls show a dent in the usually high levels of overall support.
In an Ipsos poll earlier this month, the number of Britons with a favorable opinion of the king had dipped below 50 percent. That poll was taken before Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest but after the recent release of a large tranche of files relating to Mr. Epstein.
The poll also showed a drop in the number of people who thought the royal family had handled the scandal well — to 28 percent this month, from 37 percent in November. Young people tend to be less positive about the royal family than older Britons.
Keiran Pedley, U.K. research director for Ipsos, said that despite the damage, the monarchy remains a popular institution, and that nothing in the data at the moment suggests it is in jeopardy.
“It’s an open question as to how resilient the institution will be in the post-Elizabeth era,” he added, but said it remained crucial to understand what younger Britons think after the 2022 death of the much-loved Elizabeth II.
Nathan Brindle, 21, and Zara Van der Vorm, 18, who were walking their dogs near Royal Lodge in Windsor on Monday said the news about Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor had barely registered with them or their peers. The 30-room royal mansion was the former prince’s home for two decades before King Charles III evicted him earlier this month.
“Since Lizzie died, because everyone did really like her, no one really has any time for them,” Mr. Brindle said, using an affectionate nickname for Queen Elizabeth. “The royal family is old and outdated, and most people of our generation just don’t care about it.”
Still, Mr. Brindle said he was glad to see someone being investigated for potential wrongdoing revealed by the Epstein files and added that he wanted to see more powerful people held accountable.
Despite being stripped of nearly all of the benefits of royal life, from his mansion to his titles, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor remains eighth in line to the throne, a status that can be changed only by an Act of Parliament. The governing Labour party has said that it would consider introducing legislation to prevent the former prince from ever becoming king, but that the process would be complicated and could begin only after the police inquiry ended.
Removing Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession would also require the nations of the British Commonwealth, where the king remains the head of state, to agree. Australia and New Zealand, both part of the Commonwealth, have voiced support.
“The bottom line is no one is above the law and once that investigation is closed, should the U.K. government decide to remove him from the line of succession, that is something we would support,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand said on Tuesday.
Campaigners from Republic, an anti-monarchy group, on Monday called for a wide-ranging royal inquiry.
During Elizabeth’s reign, Windsor was a center of royal activity. Windsor Castle was her primary home in her final years, and she was buried there. The wedding of Prince Harry to his American-born wife, Meghan, in 2018 saw stars and royals alike descend on the town.
The royal family even takes its name from the medieval fortress. So the scandal involving Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor felt deeply personal to some here this week.
Pat Walker, 82, who was visiting Windsor on Monday from her home in Derbyshire, in northern England, said she had vivid memories of the queen’s coronation in 1953. And she wasn’t impressed with how the next generation had behaved.
“He is a disgrace to the royal family,” she said of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor. Nearby, gaggles of teenage boys dressed in crisp white shirts and black jackets, the recognizable uniform of the prestigious Eton College boys’ school, chatted loudly as they hustled by on the narrow sidewalks.
Jack Slack, 73, had a slightly different take, objecting to how the king had handled the long-running saga of his brother and Mr. Epstein. He said he believed the country deserved more transparency about their relationship and what the royal family had known.
“When things go wrong with the royal family, they are very quiet,” he said. “We don’t want to be told lies. We want the truth.”
Megan Specia reports on Britain, Ireland and the Ukraine war for The Times. She is based in London.
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