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By Christian Edwards, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Issy Ronald, celebrity.land<\/p>\n
(celebrity.land) \u2014 <\/b>Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor<\/a>, the younger brother of Britain\u2019s King Charles III, was arrested on his 66th birthday following revelations about the former prince\u2019s relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n After an early morning police raid at his home in Sandringham, Mountbatten-Windsor became the first member of the UK royal family to be arrested in modern history<\/a>.<\/p>\n His arrest \u2013 on suspicion of misconduct in public office \u2013 prompted Charles to express his \u201cdeepest concern,\u201d while stressing that \u201cthe law must take its course.\u201d<\/p>\n After spending more than 10 hours in a police station in Norfolk, near his new home, Mountbatten-Windsor was released \u201cunder investigation\u201d late Thursday evening and pictured leaving a police station<\/a>.<\/p>\n Separately, London\u2019s Metropolitan Police said Friday they had urged Andrew\u2019s serving and former royal protection officers to \u201cconsider carefully whether anything they saw or heard\u201d could be relevant to their investigation into Epstein and his associates.<\/p>\n The former prince\u2019s arrest marks the latest extraordinary development in the yearslong controversy<\/a> over his ties to Epstein, which has shredded his reputation and snowballed into the royals\u2019 biggest crisis since the death of Princess Diana in 1997.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we know.<\/p>\n They did not disclose what led to Andrew\u2019s arrest, but previously said they were assessing whether he shared confidential information with Epstein during his decade as a UK trade envoy.<\/p>\n The royal, who was then the Duke of York, was forced to step down from his role in 2011 over his friendship with Epstein, who had been convicted in 2008 for soliciting prostitution from a minor.<\/p>\n The former prince has denied all accusations against him and insisted he never witnessed or suspected any of the behavior of which Epstein is accused. He has not commented publicly on the allegation of misconduct in public office that emerged after the latest DOJ release.<\/p>\n The royal was arrested at his new home on his brother\u2019s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, eastern England. Mountbatten-Windsor had only moved there earlier this month, after the King evicted him from the royal estate at Windsor in Berkshire, west of London, following an earlier DOJ release of Epstein files.<\/p>\n Soon after unmarked police cars and plainclothes officers arrived at Wood Farm, Andrew\u2019s residence at Sandringham, uniformed police officers also raided Royal Lodge at Windsor, which had been his home since 2003.<\/p>\n Mountbatten-Windsor was detained by Thames Valley Police, which covers Berkshire, even though the arrest was made in Sandringham, which is covered by the Norfolk Constabulary. The Norfolk force told celebrity.land it was supporting Thames Valley Police\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n Late Thursday, Thames Valley Police said it had concluded its searches in Sandringham, but that its searches at Windsor would likely continue through to Monday.<\/p>\n After standing down as trade envoy in 2011, Mountbatten-Windsor faced prolonged scrutiny over his ties to Epstein. In 2019, he agreed to a long, sit-down interview with BBC Newsnight in which he responded to allegations of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Having been pictured with Epstein in New York\u2019s Central Park in 2010, after his conviction, Mountbatten-Windsor explained that he had traveled to New York to end his friendship with the disgraced financier. Asked why that involved his staying at Epstein\u2019s mansion for several days, the former prince said it was \u201cconvenient,\u201d and that he thought speaking with Epstein in person was \u201chonorable and right.\u201d<\/p>\n Mountbatten-Windsor also said he had \u201cno recollection of ever meeting\u201d Virginia Giuffre, who in 2015 had alleged that she was forced to have sex with the then-prince three times, including when she was 17. He suggested that a photo from 2001 showing himself and Giuffre in Ghislaine Maxwell\u2019s house may have been faked.<\/p>\n Giuffre sued<\/a> Mountbatten-Windsor in a New York court in 2021, accusing him of sexual assault. Despite claiming never to have met her, the royal reportedly paid millions of dollars<\/a> to Giuffre in 2022 to settle the case, without admitting responsibility for any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Following further allegations in Guiffre\u2019s memoir, published posthumously after she died by suicide in April 2025, King Charles stripped his younger brother of his title as prince in October. The scandal swelled again after the DOJ released photos in January that appeared to show Mountbatten-Windsor kneeling over a woman or girl lying on the floor.<\/p>\n Charles said he learned \u201cwith the deepest concern\u201d of Mountbatten-Windsor\u2019s arrest and stressed that \u201cthe law must take its course.\u201d The Prince and Princess of Wales supported Charles\u2019 statement, celebrity.land understands.<\/p>\n The monarch did, however, use the statement to distance himself from Andrew, taking care not to describe the former prince as his brother and attempting to ringfence the rest of the family. \u201cMy family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all,\u201d Charles wrote.<\/p>\n Marjorie Taylor Greene<\/a>, the former Republican congresswoman from Georgia, pointed out the relative lack of accountability in the United States for those with ties to Epstein. Democratic Rep. Jake Auchincloss<\/a> from Massachusetts struck a similar note, telling celebrity.land: \u201cGreat Britain is holding its powerful and privileged to account. The United States of America should do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n President Donald Trump called Mountbatten-Windsor\u2019s arrest a \u201cshame,\u201d but avoided mentioning his own connections to Epstein. \u201cI think it\u2019s a shame. I think it\u2019s very sad. I think it\u2019s so bad for the royal family,\u201d Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to Georgia.<\/p>\n Trump lamented how Mountbatten-Windsor\u2019s predicament would affect Charles, who is expected to visit the US this year, likely in April.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very sad thing to see it and to see what\u2019s going on with his brother, (the king is) obviously coming to our country very soon, and he\u2019s a fantastic man, the king,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\nWhy was Andrew arrested?<\/h2>\n
Where was he arrested?<\/h2>\n
What previous scandals has he faced?<\/h2>\n
How has King Charles reacted?<\/h2>\n
How was the news received in the US?<\/h2>\n
How have Epstein\u2019s survivors reacted?<\/h2>\n