King Charles, Kate Middleton, Prince William, and other members of the British royal family were heckled by anti-monarchy protesters at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London on Mar. 9, marking the family's largest public gathering since ex-Prince Andrew's arrest last month.

Protesters from the anti-monarchy group Republic positioned themselves outside the Abbey holding bright yellow signs that read "What Did You Know?" — a direct reference to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's connection to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Other signs carried messages such as "Not My King," "Down With The Crown," and "Abolish The Monarchy."

The protesters used megaphones to amplify their chants as the royals arrived. Church bells rang out before the family entered, partially drowning out the demonstrators' voices, according to People.​

Republic CEO Graham Smith held up a photo of Andrew and accuser Virginia Giuffre during the protest. Smith told reporters that public opinion is shifting, saying, "We're even seeing some of the royalist press asking the same question of what they knew when."

The demonstration came weeks after former Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested on Feb. 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was taken into custody at his Sandringham residence, questioned for 11 hours, and released under investigation.

The arrest stems from allegations that Andrew shared confidential government documents with Epstein during his time as the U.K.'s trade envoy. Andrew has consistently denied all wrongdoing, Reuters reported.

Andrew's friendship with Epstein dates back to 1999, when he was introduced to the financier by British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's most prominent accusers, alleged she was trafficked and forced to have sexual encounters with Andrew on three occasions, including when she was 17 years old.

Andrew denied ever meeting Giuffre but settled her civil sexual assault lawsuit in 2022 for an undisclosed sum reported to be around $15 million, without admitting liability. King Charles stripped Andrew of his royal titles in October 2025, making him a private citizen known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, in an effort to distance the monarchy from the scandal, as per CNN.

Tags
Kate Middleton, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein, Royal family, Prince William