Police continued searching Royal Lodge on Friday, a day after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and questioned for nearly 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as reported[1] by The New York Post.
Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew until October when King Charles III stripped him of his titles and honors, was taken into custody at 8 a.m. Thursday — his 66th birthday[2] — at his residence.
Prince Charles, visits the Abergavenny Chronicle 13th 0f December 2013, where he unvieled a plaque with Newspaper owner Sir Ray Tindle. Abergaveny, Monmouthshire, Wales.
He was transported to a nearby police station for questioning and later released. He has not been charged, nor has he been cleared. Thames Valley Police, which oversees areas west of London, confirmed he remains under investigation.
Authorities completed their search of his new home on the Sandringham estate, the king’s private retreat approximately 115 miles north of London.
Officers are continuing to search Royal Lodge, his 30-room former residence located on the grounds of Windsor Castle just west of the capital.
The arrest follows years of scrutiny over Mountbatten-Windsor’s association with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019.
The specific allegation under review is that Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential trade information with Epstein during his tenure as a trade envoy for the United Kingdom.
Emails released last month by the U.S. Department of Justice appeared to show him forwarding reports from official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Singapore.
One email dated November 2010 was reportedly forwarded five minutes after he received it.
Another message, weeks later, appeared to show him sending Epstein a confidential briefing on investment opportunities tied to the reconstruction of Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Other police forces in the United Kingdom are conducting separate investigations related to Mountbatten-Windsor’s connections to Epstein.
Conceptual editorial image showing U.S. President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein on the screen. For editorial use only. New York U.S 24.07.2025
He has consistently denied wrongdoing in relation to his association with Epstein but has not publicly addressed the latest allegations tied to the release of the so-called Epstein files.
Legal experts say the charge under consideration — misconduct in public office — can be difficult to prove.
“Firstly, it must be determined if Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was in a role within government that constitutes the title of public officer,” said Sean Caulfield, a criminal defense lawyer at Hodge Jones & Allen.
“There is no standard definition to clearly draw on.”
The Crown Prosecution Service will ultimately determine whether charges are warranted. Andrew Gilmore, a partner at Grosvenor Law, said prosecutors will apply the two-stage test outlined in the “Code for Crown Prosecutors.”
“That test is to determine whether there is a more realistic prospect of a conviction than not based on the evidence and whether the matter is in the public interest,” Gilmore said.
“If these two tests are met, then the matter will be charged and proceed to court.”
Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest marked the first time a member of the British royal family has been arrested since King Charles I nearly four centuries ago.
The monarchy has faced major crises in modern times, including the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936 and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997.
In a statement Thursday, King Charles III said the “law must take its course,’’ but added that as “this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter.’’
The allegations under investigation are separate from claims previously made by Virginia Giuffre, who alleged she was trafficked to Britain in 2001 to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor when she was 17. Giuffre died by suicide last year.
Amanda Roberts, Giuffre’s sister-in-law, said she received a phone call at 3 a.m. informing her of the arrest.
While she described an initial feeling of relief, she said it was tempered by the fact that Giuffre was no longer alive to witness the development.
“We can’t tell her how much we love her, and that everything that she was doing is not in vain,” Roberts said tearfully.
