SIR Jacob Rees-Mogg has described Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as looking like a ”depressed” and “broken man”.

He said on GB News: “It’s the first arrest of a royal, I think, arguably, since the Duke of Monmouth, who had his head cut off in the 1680s for rebelling against James the second, although George the first, I believe, kept his wife locked up in a castle in Hanover for a bit.

“But it’s also constitutionally fascinating, not just because of the effect on the King and on support for the monarchy, but because that great principle of English and subsequently British law has been upheld, that nobody is above the law. Be you ever so high, the law is above you.

“And the King has clearly accepted that in the statement that he put out, His Majesty has said, I’ve learned with the deepest concern, and to translate deepest concern from a royal for anybody else is, well, not me, but from anybody other than me, is running around in absolute desperation.

“Deepest concern is the highest level in royal statements of fear and trouble. Deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office.

“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. They have our full and wholehearted support and cooperation.

“Let me state clearly, the law must take its course, and this is quite right, and this has been in our constitution. It’s been something we have understood for centuries. It was written about by John Fortescue in the 15th century, and underpins what we think of ourselves as a nation.

“So partly, though we should be embarrassed that a member of our royal family has had his collar felt by the police. Nonetheless, we should be proud that our constitution, our legal system, works properly.

“This hasn’t, however, made the Royal Family popular. His Majesty has been heckled recently, and I think was heckled again.”

He added: “Well, obviously His Majesty hasn’t covered up or asked the police not to investigate because they’ve now arrested his brother. So the answer to the heckler has come by the actions of the police. And this, I think, is important and should encourage those of us who love the constitution, because we’ve been threatened before.

“Think of Charles I who had his head cut off. For 11 years we were a republic. It was a disaster. We had the greatest dictatorship in this country that we’ve ever known under the awful Oliver Cromwell. George the first didn’t speak much English and locked up his wife because she didn’t behave necessarily, as he would have liked.

“The Duke of Clarence, the younger brother of Edward IV, and older brother of Richard the third, he upset his brother. It was easier in those days because Edward IV just had him drowned in a butt of Malmsey, according to legend, in the Tower of London.

“This time I think that the King may wish butts of Malmsey were more easily available in Norfolk than perhaps they were in the last one.

“I mentioned the last arrest the Duke of Monmouth, who was beheaded in the 1680s, I think 1685, for the rebellion he created, mainly in the west of England. In Somerset, the executioner at that occasion was not a very efficient one, and hacked at his head for quite some time before he finished off the deed, and the next person to the block said, ‘I hope you’ll be a little swifter with me than you were with my lord Monmouth’.

“So the monarchy has got through these problems before, it’s even got through the problem of Edward VIII who had to abdicate because monarchy matters to our constitution.

“In the 17th century, you needed a king to lead. In the 21st Century, you need a king as a constitutional monarch, somebody who adds unity to our nation, who is a symbol of our nation, who is there to ensure that politicians don’t get above themselves, to be the long stop in case people abuse the constitutional privileges…

“That has helped our constitution. It’s given it a great stability, strength, longevity. It’s given us influence globally, as the King has been the primary, the principal and main ambassador of this country abroad, and particularly to Donald Trump.

“But for once, I agree with Sir Keir Starmer that no one is above the law. It is a fundamental principle.

“Well, that is a fundamental point. We now see that the former Prince Andrew has left prison in a very depressed state, looking a defeated a broken man…”