Article by Viory
Anti-monarchy campaigners staged a protest outside Westminster Abbey on Monday as members of the British royal family arrived for the annual Commonwealth Day service.
Footage shows demonstrators holding banners reading ‘What did you know?’, ‘Not My King’ and ‘Down with the Crown’ as King Charles’ motorcade arrived at the abbey. Other senior royals, including Queen Camilla, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, were also seen arriving and were met with boos from some protesters.
“We are protesting particularly today because we wanted to ask that question the hecklers have been asking, which is: ‘what did you know, when, about Andrew?’,” said Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchy group Republic.
Smith said the ongoing investigation involving Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, raises questions about the royal family.
“If Andrew is not prosecuted or charged, then there’s gonna be lots of questions as to why. If he is, there’s going to be a lot of questions as to what they knew and when. And, of course, if he pleads guilty, there’s going to be even more questions than if he pleads innocent,” he said.
Republic campaign member Bev argued the scandal could affect public perceptions of the monarchy.
“The fact that they are entitled has given them the idea that they can and have gotten away with whatever they’ve wanted to do. And as a result of that, I think it really is going to have a massive knock-on effect as to how people view the monarchy,” she said.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday following revelations about links to the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, but was later released under investigation. He is the first senior royal in modern British history to be arrested and is currently eighth in line to the throne.
His brother, King Charles, stripped him of his ‘prince’ title and several royal roles. Andrew has strongly denied any wrongdoing, including allegations of sexual abuse.
Epstein, who had pleaded not guilty to charges of operating a network that exploited underage girls, died by hanging in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial. A coroner ruled his death a suicide.
Article by Viory
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