Britain’s former Prince Andrew, now generally known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested Thursday morning, changing into the first senior British royal in trendy historical past to be arrested.
It represents a rare improvement in the ongoing scandal surrounding King Charles III’s brother, which has intensified ever since the US Department of Justice launched paperwork offering new insights into his ties to the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
So, what do we know about the former prince’s arrest?
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public workplace, Thames Valley Police mentioned.
This allegation means wilfully abusing or neglecting the energy held by a public workplace. Police haven’t mentioned what led to the arrest however Andrew spent a decade as a UK commerce envoy between 2001-2011.
Documents launched by the US Department of Justice final month confirmed that the former prince, who was sure by the similar confidentiality pointers as UK authorities ministers, was in touch with Epstein throughout his time as commerce envoy.
Thames Valley Police had beforehand mentioned it’s assessing whether or not Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential materials with Epstein throughout this time, in addition to allegations {that a} girl was trafficked to the UK by Epstein to have a sexual encounter with the former prince.
Police haven’t charged Mountbatten-Windsor with any sexual offenses.
The former prince has denied all accusations towards him and insisted he by no means witnessed or suspected any of the habits of which Epstein is accused. He has not commented publicly on these newer allegations of misconduct in public workplace that emerged after the DOJ releases.
Unmarked police automobiles have been seen arriving at Mountbatten-Windsor’s dwelling on his brother’s Sandringham property in Norfolk on Thursday, the day of his birthday.
He solely moved to this home earlier this month, after Charles evicted him from the royal property at Windsor amid the fallout from an earlier set of Epstein recordsdata.
Uniformed cops have been additionally seen behind the gates of the Royal Lodge, Andrew’s former residence, on Thursday.
The Norfolk Constabulary, whose jurisdiction extends over Sandringham, has mentioned it’s supporting Thames Valley Police’s investigation.
What earlier scandals has he confronted?
The arrest of Mountbatten-Windsor is the newest improvement in the yearslong controversy over his ties to Epstein.
He stepped down from his royal duties in 2019 in the aftermath of a disastrous BBC interview throughout which he tried to bat away any allegations of wrongdoing.
He mentioned he had “no recollection of ever meeting” Virginia Giuffre, who would later accuse the royal of getting intercourse together with her thrice when she was a young person.
She sued Mountbatten-Windsor in a New York courtroom in 2021, accusing him of sexual assault. Despite claiming by no means to have met her, the royal reportedly paid millions of dollars to Giuffre in 2022 to settle the case, with out admitting any duty of wrongdoing.
Further humiliation adopted final 12 months when Charles stripped his brother of his title as prince and solid him out of the Windsor property, marking the most public relegation of a British senior royal since the abdication disaster in 1936.
Charles expressed his “wholehearted” help for the persevering with investigations into his brother, stressing in a swiftly launched assertion that “the law must take its course.”
He added that he discovered of Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest “with the deepest concern” and reiterated that the police can depend on the “cooperation” of Buckingham Palace in any investigations.
The improvement is unprecedented in trendy occasions.
Princess Anne, Andrew’s sister, had a brush with the legislation in 2002 when she was prosecuted and fined after her canine attacked two kids. But she was not arrested over the offense.
You have to return to the seventeenth Century and the execution of King Charles I to discover the final time a senior royal was arrested.
There remains to be numerous info that’s unknown, each concerning the particulars of the allegations and the process of the case.
It is unclear what particular info led the police to make an arrest Thursday in addition to the place Mountbatten-Windsor is being held and the way lengthy he will stay in custody for.
Police can maintain suspects for up to 24 hours generally in England and Wales earlier than they need to formally cost the particular person with against the law or launch them. If suspected of a critical crime, he may be held for up to 96 hours.