The disgraced royal was briefly taken into custody on Thursday
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of King Charles III, was briefly detained by UK police on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was released after nearly 12 hours of questioning and remains under investigation.
Mountbatten-Windsor had his royal titles revoked last year due to his past friendship with disgraced US financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the BBC, the former prince is the first senior royal to be arrested in modern history.
Andrew was taken into custody at his temporary home at the king’s private residence in Sandringham, Norfolk, around 8 am. Officers carried out searches at Wood Farm on the estate and at locations in Berkshire.
“On Thursday, we arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The individual has now been released under investigation,” Thames Valley Police said in a brief statement.
King Charles stated the “law must take its course” and that law enforcement had his “complete and wholehearted support and cooperation.”
Mountbatten-Windsor, who has denied any wrongdoing, faced renewed public attention last month after the US Department of Justice released new emails and photos linked to the Jeffrey Epstein case.
In 2022, Mountbatten-Windsor settled out of court with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual assault. Giuffre claimed Epstein and his close associate Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to the former prince in the 2000s, when she was 17.
Virginia Giuffre died by suicide in 2025, and her posthumously published memoirs prompted the king to strip Mountbatten-Windsor of his titles.