Former Prince Andrew Arrested on Suspicion of Misconduct in Public Office

LONDON — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Duke of York, was arrested by British police on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, following the recent release of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mountbatten-Windsor, who turned 66 on Thursday, was taken into custody by Thames Valley Police and held for 11 hours before being released “under investigation,” meaning he has not been charged or exonerated. He was later seen being driven away from Aylsham Police Station in Norfolk.

The arrest, described by the National Police Chiefs’ Council as a “routine practice” that involved a 30-minute warning to the Home Office, marks the first time in centuries that a member of the royal family has been arrested. It represents a dramatic escalation in the scandal surrounding Epstein that has implicated some of the world’s most powerful figures.

Thames Valley Police confirmed they had arrested a man in his 60s on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in the U.K. While the police did not name the individual, standard practice under British law, Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright acknowledged the “significant public interest in this case.” Police were also seen searching two addresses connected to Mountbatten-Windsor in Berkshire and Norfolk.

The arrest follows weeks of new revelations from files published by the U.S. Justice Department. Earlier this month, Thames Valley Police announced it was investigating a claim that the former prince, while serving as the U.K.’s trade envoy in 2010, had shared confidential documents with Epstein. One disclosed email reportedly shows Mountbatten-Windsor forwarding a report from his special adviser about a trip to Southeast Asia to the financier.

The development has sent shockwaves through the British royal family. King Charles III, Mountbatten-Windsor’s brother, expressed his “deepest concern” at the news in a rare personal statement signed “Charles R.”

“I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office,” the King’s statement read. “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. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation.”

Speaking from Air Force One, President Donald Trump called the arrest “very sad.” He added, “I think it’s a shame. I think it’s very sad. I think it’s so bad for the royal family.” When asked if other Epstein associates could face arrest in the U.S., Trump noted his own exoneration, saying, “That’s very nice.”

Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. The allegations against him have long centered on accusations from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claimed Epstein trafficked her to have sex with the prince when she was 17. Mountbatten-Windsor has also denied having sex with Giuffre. In 2022, he reached an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre after she filed a lawsuit in the U.S.

Following the arrest, Giuffre’s family released a statement, saying, “Today, our broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty. For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you.”

The arrest of a figure so recently a senior working royal is unprecedented in modern times. Royal historian Sarah Gristwood noted, “It is the first age in which someone who was very recently a senior royal could be treated like any other common criminal.” While senior figures were imprisoned in the times of the Tudors and Stuarts, she said, it was only on political grounds.

The arrest is the culmination of a years-long fall from grace for the son of the late Queen Elizabeth II, who was stripped of his military affiliations and royal patronages in early 2022.