Crown Prince William has spoken out for the first time since the arrest of his uncle, former Prince Andrew, in the Epstein case.

Prince William has made his first comment since the arrest of his uncle, former Prince Andrew, in the case of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The day before, he and his wife, Kate Middleton, made a public appearance amid the royal scandal—the couple appeared at the 2026 BAFTA Awards, and William responded to journalists' inquiries.

Western tabloids note that William and Kate's appearance at the film awards ceremony signaled their intention to distance themselves from the royal family scandal. However, the issues surrounding his uncle appear to be haunting William.

Appearing on the red carpet before the event at the Royal Festival Hall, William revealed that he hadn't yet seen the Oscar-nominated British film "Hamnet" because he wasn't in the right frame of mind. "I need to be in a reasonably calm state, and I'm not in that state right now. I'll save that for later," he said.

As for Kate Middleton, she admitted that she burst into tears while watching the drama.

The couple's public appearance marked their first joint outing since the arrest of former Prince Andrew and the subsequent wave of calls for King Charles to answer for his knowledge of his brother's alleged misconduct. The monarch had previously issued an unprecedented statement, confirming his "wholehearted support" for the investigation—just hours after Andrew's arrest (the plans for which Buckingham Palace was reportedly unaware). William and Kate reportedly support the king's statement.

The former prince's arrest came after police said they were "assessing" reports that Andrew shared confidential trading reports and investment opportunities with Epstein in 2010 and 2011, when he was Britain's special trade representative to Asia.

Andrew was detained at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where he lived after King Charles evicted him from his Windsor residence. The former prince was questioned for 11 hours straight, and police conducted searches at two addresses associated with him as part of the investigation.

According to media reports, police have ample scope to expand their investigation if additional crimes are discovered during the examination of the former prince's documents and personal belongings. Andrew faces up to life imprisonment.

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