Only 1 of Queen Elizabeth's Children Has Been Convicted of a Criminal Offense, and It's Not Prince Andrew

The royal family is supposed to set an example for the people who they represent and be upstanding citizens. But what happens when a member of the royal family commits a crime? Well, normally they aren’t charged. But in one case, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s children was actually convicted of a crime.

Royal family: Prince Andrew’s crimes

When most people think of crimes within the royal family, the queen’s third child, Prince Andrew, comes to mind, due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein, who was involved in a child prostitution ring. In 2019, Andrew did an interview to explain why he continued seeing Epstein and visiting him after he had already been convicted of soliciting minors for prostitution.

“I took the judgement call that because this was serious, and I felt that doing it over the telephone was the chicken’s way of doing it, I had to go and see him and talk to him,” Andrew said.

He also denied Virginia Giuffre’s claims that she had sex with the prince when she was underaged, stating that they couldn’t be true could as she alleged that he was sweaty during the sexual encounter.

“I didn’t sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenalin in the Falklands War when I was shot at and I simply… it was almost impossible for me to sweat,” he said.

Though Andrew was never convicted of anything, he did step back from his job as a working member of the senior royals.

“It has become clear to me over the last few days that the circumstances relating to my former association with Jeffrey Epstein has become a major disruption to my family’s work and the valuable work going on in the many organisations and charities that I am proud to support,” he said in a statement.

“Therefore, I have asked Her Majesty if I may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permission,” he continued.

Which one of Queen Elizabeth’s children committed a crime?

Many royal fans would be surprised to learn that Princess Anne is actually the only one of Queen Elizabeth II’s children to be convicted of a crime.

In 2002, Anne’s three-year-old English bull terrier, Dotty, bit two children in Windsor Great Park. Princess Anne and her husband Tim Laurence were charged for not being in control of a dog in a public place, according to The Guardian.

Anne was fined £500 for the attack. She was also ordered to pay £250 in compensation and £148 to a magistrates court in Slough.

The maximum penalty for the crime could have been up to six months of jail time and the dog would have to be put down. However, during Anne’s trial, the court heard from animal psychologist Roger Mugford, who recommended that the dog live. He described Dotty as “an utterly placid, playful dog.”

Ultimately, Dotty was not sentenced to death, but she did have to undergo training and was no longer allowed to be in public without a lead.

“It was a very, very unfortunate episode and I can only hope that the children, as time goes by, will become more amenable to dogs,” district judge, Penelope Hewitt, said during her judgement.

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