The police on Thursday arrested former British royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor following shocking revelations about his links to notorious American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Specifically, the former prince's alleged misconduct in public office is a part of the latest tranche of three million Epstein files, which was released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on January 30.
Newly released Epstein files name several high-profile figures, including Prince Andrew, Elon Musk, and Peter Mandelson. The documents suggest Prince Andrew invited Jeffrey Epstein to visit him at Buckingham Palace in September 2010.
— THE WEEK (@TheWeekLive) January 31, 2026
(Elon Musk, Peter Mandelson, Epstein files,… pic.twitter.com/FABgW1xNLQ
Officers from the Thames Valley Police Department in southern England could be seen arriving in unmarked cars at Andrew's residence at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on the occasion of his 66th birthday to arrest him.
“A man in his sixties from Norfolk has been arrested and remains in police custody,” the police said, not naming the former royal.
Incredible to think that it's been fifteen years almost to the day that the Prince Andrew/Epstein scandal broke - and yet across all that time he's continued to live a life of ease and comfort while Epstein's victims have been ignored or gaslit pic.twitter.com/F8w1jXxPau
— Nicholas Guyatt (@NicholasGuyatt) February 19, 2026
This comes after the police had said that they were searching two addresses—Andrew's old home at the Windsor's Royal Lodge in Berkshire, where he had been living until last month, and his new home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
Documents showed that Andrew, who was stripped of his royal title by his brother, King Charles, just last year, had advocated for the disgraced financier on a 2010 state visit to the UAE. He had been accompanying the Queen during the official visit. A BBC report has also claimed that he sent confidential government documents to Epstein.
Apart from these alleged instances of public misconduct in the files, they also contained an image of Andrew kneeling on all-fours above a young woman, which has since sparked outrage.
However, it is unclear which instance(s) of public misconduct sparked the investigation into Andrew that led to his arrest on Thursday. In that regard, the Thames Valley PD had said just a week ago that it was in talks with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether to launch a full-fledged investigation into the disgraced royal.
Ex-Prince Andrew, however, has always denied any financial or sexual wrongdoing arising from his years-long ties to Epstein and the latter's circles.
