Britain’s one-time Prince Andrew entered police custody, suspected of improper conduct throughout his stint as the nation’s international commerce representative, while law enforcement agencies across the UK ramp up their examination of claims tied to papers from the Jeffrey Epstein case.
This marks a development without parallel in recent British history and delivers a fresh setback to the sidelined member of the royal family, who turned 66 on the same day.
The prior year saw him relieved of every royal honor after his sibling, King Charles III, required him to leave his previous residence.
Thames Valley police disclosed in relation to the case involving Andrew: “we have today (19/2) arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office,” while adhering to standard British procedure by withholding the individual’s identity.
Multiple British news sources described a procession of nondescript vehicles, thought to belong to officers, pulling up early Thursday at Sandringham in eastern England, the location where Andrew currently lives.
Emerging details from the previous week indicated that Andrew had passed on materials that could contain sensitive information to the convicted American sex offender Epstein while holding his UK trade envoy position.
An email dated November 2010, examined by AFP, showed Andrew relaying evaluations concerning Vietnam, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Singapore right after an official tour of the region.
The former royal, currently identified as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, also reportedly forwarded particulars of that journey — during which he traveled with Epstein’s professional partners — together with possible investment prospects a few months afterward.
He lost his official titles following claims by one of Epstein’s survivors that she had been moved against her will for sexual encounters with him.
He has always rejected any improper involvement in his dealings with Epstein.
King Charles voiced “concern” over his brother’s conduct and released a rare public message last week stating Buckingham Palace was “ready to support” the police in their examinations.
Andrew, now going by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, whose links to Epstein triggered a dramatic years-long slide from public favor, held the role of British trade envoy for a full decade beginning in 2001.
At least nine separate British policing bodies have verified they are reviewing materials that appear to connect the ex-prince with Epstein.
Officers in Surrey in southeastern England stated on Wednesday they had become “aware” of a redacted document alleging “human trafficking and sexual assaults on a minor” between 1994 and 1996 in the village of Virginia Water.
That document surfaced within the newest release of millions of records issued by the US justice department drawn from the Epstein inquiry; the financier died in prison in 2019.
“After reviewing our systems using the limited information available to us, we found no evidence of these allegations being reported to Surrey Police,” its statement read.
“We therefore encourage anyone with information in relation to these allegations to report this to us.”
The statement avoided naming people involved.
This unfolds even as notable personalities, among them former UK prime minister Gordon Brown, have pressed police to examine dozens of flights stretching back decades that landed at British airports and connected to Epstein.
Writing in the New Statesman magazine last week, Brown said he had been “told privately that the investigations related to the former Prince Andrew did not properly check vital evidence of flights”.
“I have asked the police to look at this as part of the new inquiry,” he stated, adding it appeared “the authorities never knew what was happening”.
Metropolitan police in London have separately opened an inquiry into the connection between the UK’s former ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, and the disgraced financier.
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