“I believe it’s a real pity. It’s a great misfortune and quite detrimental to the royal family,” he expressed.

“It’s profoundly disheartening for me. Witnessing this is truly unfortunate,” he added.

Trump has nurtured a long-standing admiration for the British monarchy, having been twice welcomed on state visits to the UK by both King Charles III and the late Queen Elizabeth II.

This year, Charles is expected to make a visit to the United States.

“It’s quite sorrowful to observe the situation and to consider the circumstances with his brother, who is soon coming to our nation, and he is an admirable individual, the king,” Trump commented.

“What’s fascinating is that during Epstein’s lifetime, no one seemed to discuss him, but now there’s chatter. Yet, I’m the one who can address it, as I’ve been fully cleared,” he stated.

Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest has not been suggested by police to be connected with any dealings the ex-prince had with Epstein, with whom both he and Trump were former associates.

However, the arrest of the former prince by UK authorities is raising questions about why police in the US haven’t taken similar steps against anyone named in the trove of publicly released Epstein files.

“Powerful people in the UK are the ones being held to account and not in the United States,” political scientist Simon Jackman told Today.

“It’s building up a lot of pressure for why it is that the Department of Justice, under Donald Trump … that no one has been held to account.”

Mountbatten-Windsor has denied all accusations of wrongdoing in his relations with Epstein.

“It will be seen nonetheless as someone being held to account, even though I think once we get into the nitty-gritty of it, it is not to do with sexual misconduct,” Jackman said.

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