SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Now to the United Kingdom, where the Epstein files led to yesterday's arrest of the man who was once Prince Andrew, and an anti-monarchy group is claiming some responsibility. Days before the brother of King Charles was arrested, a whistleblower filed a police report alleging criminal activity by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. It is an example of how activists are sifting through the latest files released by the U.S. Department of Justice and trying to hold people named in them to account. NPR's Lauren Frayer spoke to that whistleblower today in London and joins us now. Hey, Lauren.
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Hi there.
DETROW: Tell us more about this anti-monarchy group and what role it played in Andrew's downfall.
FRAYER: It's called Republic. It's a nonprofit that wants the United Kingdom to turn into a parliamentary republic, so replace the king with an elected head of state. Its members see monarchies as elitist, undemocratic, expensive. They lack transparency. They don't want their tax money supporting royals. Now, polls, though, show most Britons do support monarchy, but the group Republic has been at this for more than 40 years, staging protests at royal weddings, coronations. They sell T-shirts with these snarky slogans like #NotMyKing, citizen not subject. My personal fave is chuck the rex.
DETROW: (Laughter) How did they get involved in this much more serious matter, though? - the Andrew case.
FRAYER: So late January, DOJ publishes the latest batch of Epstein files. Some of them are Andrew's emails from the early 2000s when he was a U.K. trade envoy, and he forwarded Epstein government travel itineraries and investment plans. Now, Andrew hasn't commented on those files, but after U.K. media started publishing them, Republic took them to police and filed a formal police report - a complaint on February 9.
DETROW: So was that police complaint then what led to Andrew's arrest?
FRAYER: So the group's CEO, Graham Smith - he regularly files police reports against royals. Like, he's an activist. But Smith told me police never acted on it before. And so when he heard of Andrew's arrest yesterday, he told me he was gobsmacked.
GRAHAM SMITH: Yeah. I was absolutely gobsmacked. I just didn't think it was going to happen. You know, I - we've dealt with the police before, and I just thought that the police would keep on dragging this out until they could quietly, you know, say that there's nothing to see here.
FRAYER: Police confirm that they received Smith's report but haven't said it was definitely that that led to the arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. But Smith is certainly claiming credit.
DETROW: So this is a big moment then. What's next for Republic?
FRAYER: So Smith says he'll continue pulling off stunts like wrapping Buckingham Palace in police tape. That's actually something he did recently. But he's also focusing on members of Parliament, he says.
SMITH: Because the big piece of the jigsaw that's missing is the MPs. They seem oddly quiet. Some of them are speaking out, but they are still very timid about this.
FRAYER: And actually, tonight, there's news that Parliament may act and draft legislation to prevent Andrew from ever becoming king. So he is still eighth in line to the throne. A whole lot of people would have to meet calamity for him to get the crown, but the government apparently doesn't want to take that chance.
DETROW: Meanwhile, let's take a step back. What is the latest in this investigation? Andrew is now out of police custody. Has he been charged yet?
FRAYER: No, neither charged nor exonerated. So charges could come anytime or never, but he's still under investigation. Police say their searches of royal properties will continue through the weekend. Now, that's related to Andrew's trade envoy documents.
Separately, London police say tonight that they're assessing whether airports, including Heathrow, may have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Now, remember, Andrew settled a lawsuit with one of Epstein's underage victims but denies wrongdoing.
Police are also asking his bodyguards to come forward and report if they saw or heard anything that could be relevant to police. You know, royal bodyguards are believed to have accompanied him to Epstein's island and elsewhere.
DETROW: That is NPR's Lauren Frayer in London. Thank you so much.
FRAYER: You're welcome.
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