The Economist January 8th 2022 47
BritainPrinceAndrewA question of consent
P
rince andrewdoes not deny that it is
him in the photograph. But is it really
his hand clasped around the waist of 17
yearold Virginia Roberts? He cannot be
sure. In fact, he told the bbcin 2019, he had
no memory of the picture being taken. It
showed him in travelling clothes, he
mused, but when in London he would wear
a suit and tie, and he certainly didn’t go
around hugging people. He had never been
upstairs in the house of Ghislaine Max
well, his socialite friend, where the snap
was taken. And had it really been Jeffrey
Epstein behind the camera? The prince
hadn’t ever seen his friend take a picture.
That photograph haunts the queen’s
second son. Mr Epstein would later be con
victed of procuring a minor for prostitu
tion, and in 2019, after being charged with
further sex offences, he hanged himself
with a prison bedsheet. On December 29th
Ms Maxwell, visible in the picture behind
Ms Roberts, was convicted by a jury in
Manhattan of sextrafficking offences. As
for the prince, Ms Roberts (who now goesby her married name, Giuffre) is suing him
for “exemplary and punitive” damages.
In a civil case in New York, she has al
leged that she was forced to have sex with
the prince against her will. She claims he
abused her at Epstein’s homes in New York
and the us Virgin Islands, while knowing
she was a victim of sextrafficking. He ve
hemently denies the allegations and says
he has no recollection of meeting her. At a
hearing on January 4th his lawyers sought
to have the case struck out on the basis of a
settlement Ms Giuffre signed with Epstein
in 2009. As The Economistwent to press, a
decision was expected shortly.
Whatever happens, monarchists cantry to argue that the crown is insulated
from it. Although for his first 22 years
Prince Andrew was second in line to the
throne—just one nasty polo accident away
from heirapparent—his elder brother
Charles’s children and grandchildren have
pushed Andrew back to ninth in the line of
succession. The monarchy is popular, too:
a survey in 2021 by YouGov, a polling firm,
found that voters prefer it to a republic by
61% to 24%. Prince Andrew’s difficulties
have not dented the queen’s skyhigh ap
proval ratings. The royal family has weath
ered centuries of sexual misdeeds by dis
solute princes. There is no republican cau
cus in Parliament. Europe’s defunct mon
archies fell as a result of war and calamity:
during peacetime they have survived
through inertia.
Yet the allegations pose a threat to the
monarchy, all the same. In June Britain is
due to celebrate the 96yearold Queen
Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee, marking 70
years since her accession. It may be the fi
nal grand spectacle of her reign. When it
comes, the coronation of King Charles III
will be a renewal of the public’s consent to
the hereditary monarchy that forms the
apex of the British constitution.
Once, that consent rested on principle.
The inheritance of titles, land and property
through primogeniture was regarded as a
good in itself. That belief was bolstered by
religious faith: a British monarch is sworn
to defend the Protestant church. As late asSexual-assault claims strike at the basis of Britain’s hereditary monarchy→Alsointhissection
48 Screeninginvestments
49 Bagehot:Kickingwinners
— Read more at: Economist.com/Britain