 "Prince Andrew leaves St. Giles Cathedral after the arrival of the coffin containing the remains of his mother Queen Elizabeth, in Edinburgh, Scotland, September 12, 2022. File Photo/AP")
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, a former British prince, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. This comes amid allegations that he sent confidential government documents to the convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The arrest on Thursday (February 19) coincided with Mountbatten-Windsor’s 66th birthday. The ex-prince came under increased scrutiny following the release of millions of documents related to Epstein by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) that featured him several times.
Let’s take a closer look.
Who is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor?
The former Prince Andrew is the younger brother of Britain’s King Charles III. He is the son of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
For the first 22 years of his life, Andrew was second in line to the throne behind his brother. He was the Duke of York for nearly 40 years, the title he had to give up under pressure from King Charles over his links to the late paedophile Epstein.
Andrew joined the Royal Navy in 1979, receiving his “wings” and the best pilot award from his father, Prince Philip, in 1981.
Andrew retired from the Royal Navy in July 2001 after 22 years of active service. He was ranked Commander at the time of his retirement, according to Buckingham Palace.
Andrew married Sarah Ferguson in 1986, but the couple split in 1992. The duo has two daughters: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Even after their divorce, Andrew and Ferguson remained amicable and lived in the same house to raise their daughters.
“He is the best man I know,” Ferguson told Vogue Arabia about her ex-husband in 2019. “It’s just incredible what he has done for Britain, and it’s all nonsense, so I talk about familyhood, and I’m very strong about it.”
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Epstein
Andrew’s fall from grace began in 2010 when his connections to disgraced financier Epstein came to light. The two were photographed walking in Central Park in New York — two years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
Andrew reportedly first met Epstein in 1999 through the late financier’s girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
In 2011, The Evening Standard reported that Andrew had previously stayed at Epstein’s homes in Florida and Manhattan. It was also revealed that Ferguson, Andrew’s ex-wife, received a $24,500 loan from Epstein, with the payment reportedly orchestrated by Andrew’s office.
Due to the fallout from his links to Epstein, Andrew stepped down as the United Kingdom’s trade envoy in July 2011 after a decade in the role.
An email to Epstein in February 2011, “from a member of the British royal family” believed to be Andrew, had said: “Keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon !!!!”.
In August 2021, Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, filed a lawsuit against Andrew, alleging he sexually assaulted her three times, including twice when she was 17.
Amid Giuffre’s sexual assault lawsuit against Andrew , Queen Elizabeth stripped her son of his royal and military titles in January 2022.
A letter filed to a US court in February 2022 jointly by Giuffre and Andrew’s lawyers revealed they had reached an out-of-court settlement to end her civil case against him. Andrew agreed to pay her an undisclosed sum.
While the exact amount was not revealed, it was reported to be more than $12 million (£9 million). Giuffre died by suicide last year.
In October 2025, as the fallout from Andrew’s connection to Epstein continued, King Charles III moved to strip his younger brother of all his titles and ousted him from the Royal Lodge, on the Windsor estate, where he had lived for two decades.
The latest tranche of documents related to Epstein, released by the US DoJ last month, contained multiple pictures and emails on Andrew.
Some pictured showed the former prince crouching over on all fours over a woman lying on the floor. In two of the photos, he was seen touching the clothed woman’s waist and stomach. In the third image, he was looking directly into the camera. The woman’s face was blurred.
A legal letter also alleged that Andrew and Epstein demanded an exotic dancer to “engage in a threesome” at the convicted sex offender’s Palm Beach mansion in Florida in 2006. A letter from the woman’s lawyer claimed that she was “treated like a prostitute” after being hired to perform for them.
Multiple emails between Andrew and Epstein also came to light following the latest document dump.
In one, Andrew wrote to Epstein, “This week is all about me. Time to put something back into me before the rest of the world starts sucking it out in all their greed and demands.”
It seemed Andrew was thanking Epstein for his help in resolving a problem for his ex-wife Ferguson over unpaid wages. The then prince added he was about to go into his “annual retreat for the next eight days”.
Mails between Epstein and a person named “The Duke”, believed to be Andrew, discussing having dinner at Buckingham Palace, where there was “lots of privacy”, have also surfaced.
Epstein also offered to introduce “The Duke” to a 26-year-old Russian woman.
Andrew shared photographs of his daughters with Epstein through emails dating back to 2010 and 2011.
The former British prince has repeatedly denied allegations against him and even claimed he had cut ties with Epstein following the financier’s conviction in 2008. The document dump by the US DoJ shows otherwise.
Why Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested now
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He is the first senior royal in modern history to be arrested.
Police cars arrived at the King’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, where Andrew has been staying, on Thursday morning, according to the BBC.
Police is also conducting searches at Royal Lodge in Berkshire. Earlier, Thames Valley Police said searches were being carried out at addresses in Norfolk and Berkshire.
Police said earlier today that they had arrested a man in his 60s.
“The man remains in police custody at this time. We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance. Please also remember that this case is now active so care should be taken with any publication to avoid being in contempt of court,” the Thames Valley Police said in its statement.
Andrew’s arrest came after Thames Valley Police said it was examining a complaint over Mountbatten-Windsor allegedly sharing confidential material with late sex offender Epstein.
The former prince was reported to the police by the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic following the release of three million documents by the US DoJ related to Epstein.
The Epstein files suggest Mountbatten-Windsor had forwarded to Epstein reports about Vietnam, Singapore and other places he had visited on official trips in 2010. The former prince was the UK’s trade envoy between 2001 and 2011.
Police previously said it was reviewing allegations that Epstein trafficked a woman to the UK by Epstein for a sexual encounter with Mountbatten-Windsor.
According to the UK government guidelines, trade envoys come under the same obligations as government ministers and the role “carries with it a duty of confidentiality in relation to information received,” which may include “sensitive, commercial, or political information shared about relevant markets/visits.”
The guidelines say that the “duty of confidentiality will continue to apply” after the envoy exits from their post.
Andrew is in police custody, but it remains unknown where he was taken.
Danny Shaw, a policing commentator, told BBC News that the former prince can be held for a maximum of 96 hours. But this would require several extensions from senior police officers and a magistrates’ court.
Suspects are usually held for 12 or 24 hours and are then “either charged or released pending further investigation”, Shaw said.
Mountbatten-Windsor will be placed in “a cell in a custody suite” with just “a bed and a toilet”, where he will stay until his police interview. “There’ll be no special treatment for him,” Shaw added.
In England, misconduct in public office is a common law offence that involves “particular complexities”, as per Reuters. It concerns “serious wilful abuse or neglect of the power or responsibilities of the public office held,” according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
“There must be a direct link between the misconduct and an abuse of those powers or responsibilities,” states the prosecution service guidance.
In this legal context, “wilful” abuse or neglect means “deliberately doing something which is wrong knowing it to be wrong or with reckless indifference as to whether it is wrong or not.”
The offence, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, can be tried only on indictment.
As per BBC, there are four “elements” or factors that police must focus on during their investigation, including establishing that the accused was a “public officer” and the incident in question was a part of those duties.
Once this is determined, detectives seek evidence that the incident in question resulted in the suspect “wilfully” neglecting to perform their duty or wilfully misconducting themselves in some other way.
Another question is whether their action was so bad that it was “an abuse of the public’s trust”. Lastly, police will examine whether the person under investigation acted “without reasonable excuse or justification”.
Reacting to the development, King Charles III said he learned “with the deepest concern” of his younger brother’s arrest, and stressed that “the law must take its course.” In the meantime, Charles said: “My family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”
Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest has come as a shocker.
Bidisha Mamata, a royal watcher and broadcaster, told CNN that today’s arrest is “extraordinary, unexpected and damaging,” despite the scandals surrounding the former prince in recent years.
With inputs from agencies