JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Today, something rare happened in the United Kingdom's Parliament. Lawmakers criticized the royals - specifically King Charles' brother, Andrew, who was arrested last week for allegedly sharing government secrets with Jeffrey Epstein. That lawmakers were even allowed to discuss this was historic, as NPR's Lauren Frayer explains.
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LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: The royals are only ever mentioned in Parliament like this...
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JOHN MAJOR: With permission, Madam Speaker...
FRAYER: ...Then-Prime Minister John Major announcing Charles and Diana's 1992 split...
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MAJOR: We announce from Buckingham Palace that, with regret, the Prince and Princess of Wales have decided to separate.
FRAYER: ...Or then-Lord Speaker Norman Fowler on Harry and Meghan's 2017 engagement...
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NORMAN FOWLER: Engagement of His Royal Highness, Prince Henry of Wales.
FRAYER: ...Or House Speaker Lindsay Hoyle three years ago when the Queen was unwell.
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LINDSAY HOYLE: That she and the royal family are in our thoughts and prayers.
FRAYER: But when it comes to saying anything critical, members of Parliament are bound by Erskine May - rules named for a 19th century clerk, which prohibit mention of anything that, quote, "casts reflections upon the sovereign or the royal family."
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HOYLE: Order before we begin the debate...
FRAYER: Today, Speaker Hoyle allowed an unprecedented debate, though, now that the king's brother has been stripped of his title, no longer a prince.
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COLUM EASTWOOD: Whatever his new name is, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
FRAYER: That's MP Colum Eastwood. Then came MP Ed Davey.
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ED DAVEY: Mr. Speaker, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor shamed our country and the royal family.
FRAYER: And the floodgates opened.
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CHRIS BRYANT: A man on a constant, self-aggrandizing and self-enriching hustle.
FRAYER: MP Chris Bryant.
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BRYANT: A rude, arrogant and entitled man who could not distinguish between the public interest, which he said he served, and his own private interest.
FRAYER: Those MPs are from three different parties, all demanding the release of files related to Andrew's appointment as trade envoy in 2001. It was in that role that the Epstein files show Andrew passed government travel itineraries and investment plans to the late sex offender, prompting Andrew's arrest last week. He has not commented on those allegations, has not been charged and has long said he strenuously denies any wrongdoing with Epstein. For Davey, the lawmaker who initiated this debate, today was when MPs...
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DAVEY: Remove the bandages from our mouths.
FRAYER: ...Ending what his colleague, the right honorable gentlewoman from Wales, Liz Saville Roberts, called...
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LIZ SAVILLE ROBERTS: Decades of deferential, frankly, sycophantic treatment by Parliament.
FRAYER: ...That she says enabled Andrew.
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SAVILLE ROBERTS: To behave as though he were untouchable.
FRAYER: Now, one of those watching these extraordinary scenes was George Foulkes, a member of the upper chamber, the House of Lords. A year ago, he got a tip about the king's brother, Andrew.
GEORGE FOULKES: I got some concerns expressed to me that he'd been up to no good.
FRAYER: But Foulkes was blocked by the Erskine May rules from raising this in Parliament. And nearly a year later, the Epstein files corroborated his tip. Watching today, Foulkes says...
FOULKES: I'm encouraged by it because there's clearly a change in attitude.
FRAYER: He's 84 years old, and he's hoping now he will finally be allowed to ask the questions he's had for years. Lauren Frayer, NPR News, London.
(SOUNDBITE OF SAVANA FUNK'S "HIP LATIN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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