Shortly after sunrise on his 66th birthday, multiple police vehicles pulled up outside Wood Farm, the secluded residence Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor<\/strong> now occupies on King Charles III<\/strong>\u2018s private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England.<\/p>\n Around 8 a.m., officers arrested the former Duke of York on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The move came weeks after the U.S. Justice Department released emails suggesting he had passed along sensitive government documents to predator Jeffrey Epstein<\/strong> while serving as Britain\u2019s trade envoy.<\/p>\n Nearly 11 hours later, he was released from custody, but an investigation continues. If ultimately charged and convicted, he faces a sentence of up to life in prison.<\/p>\n The dramatic scene that morning marked a stunning moment for Britain\u2019s monarchy \u2014 and a historic one as well.<\/p>\n To find the last British royal arrested before Mountbatten-Windsor, historians have to go back nearly four centuries.<\/p>\n MORE: Follow Wonderwall on celebrity.land for more top news<\/a><\/p>\n The last senior British royal to face arrest and imprisonment before the former Prince Andrew<\/a> was King Charles I<\/strong>. And his story makes Mountbatten-Windsor\u2019s legal troubles look tame by comparison.<\/p>\n Charles I surrendered to Scottish forces in Southwell, England, in 1646 during the English Civil War, arriving in disguise at a local inn. The Scots handed him over to the English Parliament months later in 1647.<\/p>\n Two years after that, he was put on trial for treason. Though he refused to enter a plea \u2014 rejecting the court\u2019s legitimacy \u2014 it didn\u2019t save him.<\/p>\n On the chilly morning of his execution in 1649, he requested a thick shirt so that witnesses wouldn\u2019t mistake his shivering for fear, according to Smithsonian<\/a><\/em> magazine. He was beheaded in a single sword blow.<\/p>\n Although arrests of modern royals are almost unheard of, earlier centuries saw many imprisonments.<\/p>\n One of the most famous involved Mary Queen of Scots<\/strong>. Forced to abdicate the Scottish throne in 1567, she fled to England seeking protection from her cousin Queen Elizabeth I<\/strong>, only to spend the next 19 years imprisoned before being tried for treason and executed in 1587.<\/p>\n Elizabeth I herself once faced imprisonment. In 1554, the then-future queen was locked in the Tower of London by her half-sister Queen Mary I<\/strong> on suspicion of involvement in Wyatt\u2019s Rebellion. She was released after two months when evidence failed to tie her to the plot.<\/p>\n Several other Tudor royals met grim fates. Henry VIII<\/strong>\u2018s wives Anne Boleyn<\/strong> and Catherine Howard<\/strong> were both arrested, imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed on charges of adultery and treason.<\/p>\nA king\u2019s downfall<\/h2>\n
<\/div>
Royal arrests before Charles I<\/h2>\n
<\/div>
Modern British royals\u2019 brushes with the law<\/h2>\n