Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office by police investigating the former prince’s dealings with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
- Photographs of unmarked police cars and plainclothes officers at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate just after 8am were published on Thursday.
- A statement from Thames Valley police said: “We have today (19/2) arrested a man in his 60s from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk. The man remains in police custody at this time.”
- The arrest came as Mountbatten-Windsor celebrated his 66th birthday at home.
- Police had been assessing allegations that Mountbatten-Windsor – formerly known as Prince Andrew – shared sensitive information with the billionaire child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein when he was a UK trade envoy.
- Oliver Wright, Thames Valley Police’s assistant chief constable, said: “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office.”
Charles has no real choice. Latest polling on how we (UK) feel about having a royal family is finally swinging in a positive direction (for those of us who want to see the lot of them gone) and he knows, or at least his advisers know, that anything other than what he’s quoted as saying could be step one on public opinion definitively turning against them as an institution.