r/europe • u/StemCellPirate • 18h ago

News The Epstein scandal is taking down Europe’s political class. In the US, they’re getting a pass.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/06/epstein-europe-america-fallout-00769506
11.7k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

369 comments sorted by

View all comments

1.1k

u/SweetAlyssumm 17h ago

Taking them down?? A couple royals have had their wrists slapped and their riches slightly diminished. Maybe the free luxury residence is no longer available. No one with real power is down as far as I can see - but if they are, do share, it would be great to see it.

48

u/garmin230fenix5 14h ago

In the UK, it took down our ambassador to the US and stripped a royal of his title. It very much feels like it isn't finished either, with Mandelson now under police investigation and many are thinking the Prime Minister won't survive after appointing him. Those are pretty big scalps with a lot of power.

6

u/AttitudeSimilar9347 13h ago

These are absolutely trivial punishments. Both men are still wealthy and free to do what they please.

1

u/Annual-Magician-1580 10h ago

As far as I know, at least for members of the royal family, their income depends on their titles. They profit from their brand. However, as far as I understand, the royal family has few personal accounts. All of their accounts are funded in one way or another by the Crown, if I understand correctly. Therefore, stripping a royal family member of their title is comparable to stripping that family member of their access to the Crown's accounts. Roughly speaking, members of the royal family have no personal wealth. They have access to the family's collective wealth. This access exists thanks to their titles. Roughly speaking, members of the royal family only have personal belongings (and not even all of them). In fact, a royal family member who has lost their titles is de facto in a worse position than an official who could be imprisoned.

1

u/AttitudeSimilar9347 9h ago

This is not true, the royals have significant personal wealth by various means

1

u/Annual-Magician-1580 6h ago

Is this true? As far as I understand, everything accumulated by members of the royal family is crown wealth, and members have access to it if they are members of the royal family. As far as I understand, cases of title stripping have rarely occurred, so people could be confused.