'Monarchy seems quite unstable now', King Charles warned

A royal historian has claimed that the ‘gravest threat’ to King Charles reign has come from his disgraced brother Andrew.

Speaking to the AFP, royal expert and historian Andrew Lownie claimed Andrew’s arrest was "a crunch point" for the monarchy.

He said if it is found that "they have been abetting him, enabling him, protecting him, then I think Charles will have to stand aside."

On Thursday, Andrew was arrested and held for hours in police custody, suspected of having passed confidential information to Epstein during his 2001-2011 role as a UK trade envoy.

It was the first time a senior British royal has been arrested in modern history.

In a rare personally signed statement, King Charles vowed Thursday the "law must take its course" and expressed his "deepest concern".

Another royal expert Pauline Maclaran said Charles is in part a victim of timing.

"The monarchy seems quite unstable now and that was always going to happen after the queen passed away because she had been there for so long and had given this great sense of continuity," she said.

The late queen "certainly protected Andrew", Maclaran added.

"Andrew was an unexploded bomb that the queen passed on to Charles," he said.

"This episode, I think, could potentially be hugely damaging to the institution," he added. "Already, I think its moral authority has suffered. That includes the moral authority of the king."

Restoring that authority will require visible change, Maclaran argued.

"William has indicated that he will change things, but they´ve got to really emphasise that more now," she said.