William and Kate must rebuild royal family’s integrity, says PR expert
The couple have been in lockstep with the King’s decisions to distance the royal family from Andrew.
The Prince and Princess of Wales will be tasked with rebuilding the “integrity of the royal family”, says a PR guru, after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has significantly damaged pubic opinion.
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Public relations and crisis consultant Mark Borkowski spoke on the impact of the ongoing Epstein after Andrew’s arrest on Thursday 19 February, saying that as the future of the monarchy, the couple will need to set out their vision for the institution.
“Really, what do William and Kate do? What do their generation do with the crown, with all its soft power, its affairs of state, it’s beginning to feel a little bit like a European monarchy.“
He said the couple faced the question of “how do they establish the integrity of the royal family?", as Andrew is investigated on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
"The heavy weight of this burden on the royal family’s reputation lies with William and Kate and what they’re going to do.”
Read more: Met contacting Andrew's current and past protection officers over ‘anything they saw or heard’
William has previously stated that “change is on my agenda” when he ascends to the throne, and the couple have been in lockstep with the King’s decisions to distance the royal family from Andrew.
The King also issued a brief statement a few hours after Andrew's arrest on Thursday, stating “the law must take its course”.
Public opinion is all-important, with the authority of the monarchy ultimately founded on the support and goodwill of ordinary men and women.
The events of the past few days could see MPs and peers formally discussing the issues around Andrew’s friendship with convicted paedophile Epstein.
Labour peer Lord Foulkes told LBC's Rachel Johnson: "This is probably the biggest crisis for the monarchy since 350 years ago. You're absolutely right, and I'm not sure they recognise that yet.
"Other countries have got monarchies that work perfectly well without the whole kind of panoply and lack of accountability that we have in the United Kingdom.
"You know, we need to look at some of the other royal families in Norway and other Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands and Belgium and so on."
Calling for greater transparency around Andrew's actions, he said: "There needs to be much greater scrutiny.
"I've been asking questions, trying to ask questions and being told I can't ask questions if they might cast any bad light upon the member of the royal family."
Lord Foulkes added: "The King says he needs to be dealt with like any other as far as the police are concerned. But he's being well looked after. And who's doing it? There needs to be much greater parliamentary scrutiny. "