Not too long ago the press reported that HRH the Duke of York was considering or planning to have an autobiography published and was in contact with a US author who had assisted celebrities and politicians to do this. Doubtless HRH has noticed the great financial success enjoyed by his errant nephew!
I have not bought HRH the Duke of Sussex’s book and will not. However, if it is ever published I will buy HRH the Duke of York’s book.
There are many who will seek to censure and criticise Prince Andrew for what some people allege he has done. Prince Andrew has categorically denied these allegations.
Notwithstanding his denials, life has changed for Prince Andrew in recent times!
There has been much talk and speculation about the prospect of Prince Andrew being extradited to face criminal charges in the USA.
Up to now the US authorities have not proceeded down this path. When embarking upon a prosecution, a lawyer weighs up the chances of success. If there appears little chance of a conviction, the prosecuting lawyer will recommend that a prosecution is not proceeded with.
This in-and-of-itself is often the cause of annoyance on behalf of those who consider themselves victims and/or controversy.
Feminists often cite the statistic for the crime of rape. Often this is because of the paucity of evidence. If the woman has no evidence due to what she alleges taking place long ago and no witnesses it would boil down to a simple “she said” – “he said” dispute. Criminal convictions require proof beyond all reasonable doubt and in such cases this does not exist. Hence no prosecution.
For a US prosecutor there is another element:
This lies in the UK’s State Immunity Act 1978 [CHAPTER 33]
The relevant section is Part III Miscellaneous and Supplementary
Section 20 Heads of State.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and to any necessary modifications, the M6Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 shall apply to—
(a) a sovereign or other head of State;
(b) members of his family forming part of his household; and
(c) his private servants, as it applies to the head of a diplomatic mission, to members of his family forming part of his household and to his private servants.
(2) The immunities and privileges conferred by virtue of subsection (1)(a) and (b) above shall not be subject to the restrictions by reference to nationality or residence mentioned in Article 37(1) or 38 in Schedule 1 to the said Act of 1964.
(3) Subject to any direction to the contrary by the Secretary of State, a person on whom immunities and privileges are conferred by virtue of subsection (1) above shall be entitled to the exemption conferred by section 8(3) of the M7Immigration Act 1971.
(4) Except as respects value added tax and duties of customs or excise, this section does not affect any question whether a person is exempt from, or immune as respects proceedings relating to, taxation.
(5) This section applies to the sovereign or other head of any State on which immunities and privileges are conferred by Part I of this Act and is without prejudice to the application of that Part to any such sovereign or head of State in his public capacity.
URL: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1978/33
Were the US authorities to issue an arrest warrant it is likely that HM King Charles III will feel compelled to ask the Home Secretary to avail themselves of the above legislation.
It would be difficult to overstate the damage in terms of public relations to the monarchy that such an action would cause. Having said that; to hand Prince Andrew over to the US would be nearly as damaging.
This is a classic “no win” scenario!
It is to be noted that prosecutions of high profile figures in the USA often contain a significant amount of politics. There would be many political lawyers (they are called District Attorneys) who would relish a chance to prosecute Prince Andrew and secure a conviction. There will be some US politicians would would like to see Prince Andrew in a US court room facing US justice.
My advice to HRH the Duke of York is to be very very careful where he goes. My advice would be to voluntarily restrict himself to England. This autumn the King will likely travel up to Balmoral. Prince Andrew may wish to travel there as well. I think there is a somewhat higher risk to him were he to do so. When the Royals travel up to Balmoral from the London and the Home Counties, they generally do so by aircraft flying up to Aberdeen International airport and making the rest of the journey by road.
I am of the opinion that there is a slight risk for Prince Andrew were he to make this journey this autumn.
There is – I think – a slight risk that the US authorities are keeping a close watch – from a distance – on Prince Andrew and they might be planning a dramatic move.
I would not rule out secret communications between the US authorities and Humza Yousaf, MSP, First Minister of Scotland and Angela Constance Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs.
Sir Iain Thomas Livingstone, QPM is currently the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. On 23 February, 2023 he announced his retirement from Police Scotland and is due to leave post in the summer of 2023.
I would not be completely surprised were (under the direction of Mr Yousaf, Ms Constance and whoever is the new Chief Constable) Prince Andrew was arrested by Scottish police officers upon stepping onto the airport’s concrete/tarmac and promptly handed over to waiting US Marshalls who would frog march him up the steps of a waiting US aircraft which would promptly taxi out onto a runway and take off. If all this happened in let us say a quarter of an hour there would be no time for any Royal to do anything about it. Once the aircraft was in the air Prince Andrew would be on his way to a US prison cell.
The political fall-out for the SNP would not be that severe. The Tory government would issue a protest criticising the US authorities for a complete lack of applying the normal judicial process.
Such an incident of what is called extraordinary rendition would be viewed by many in the UK establishment as a heavily disguised blessing. Prince Andrew would be “out of sight” and to some extent “out of mind” as a result.
Were he convicted there would be pressure – from Labour MPs – for the government to put through legislation removing the peerages and princely styles and other honours from the man would have become known as Mr Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.