LONDON (AP) — Police again searched the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on Friday, a day after he was arrested and detained for nearly 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
After one of the most tumultuous days in the modern history of Britain’s royal family, former Prince Andrew has returned to his new residence at Sandringham Estate, the private residence of King Charles III, about 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of London.
Police have completed their search at Wood Farm, where the Mountbatten-Windsors are living and waiting for their new home, Marsh Farm, nearby, to be ready.
They are still searching for Royal Lodge, his 30-room former home in parkland near Windsor Castle, just west of the capital, where the king’s younger brother lived for decades until his removal earlier this month. Unmarked vans, believed to be police vehicles, have been entering the grounds since Friday morning.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who was photographed leaning against the back of his chauffeur-driven car after being released from a police station near Sandringham on Thursday evening, remains under investigation, meaning he has neither been charged nor cleared by Thames Valley Police, the force responsible for areas west of London.
Her arrest comes after years of allegations over her relationship with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison in 2019. The allegation behind his arrest is that Mountbatten-Windsor – who was known as Prince Andrew until October, when his brother stripped him of his titles and honors and kicked him out of the Royal Lodge – shared confidential business information with the disgraced financier when he was trade envoy to the UK.
Specifically, emails released last month by the US Justice Department showed Mountbatten-Windsor sharing reports of official trips to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.
A letter, dated November 2010, appears to have been forwarded by Andrew five minutes after it was received. A few weeks later another person appeared to send Epstein a confidential briefing on investment opportunities in the reconstruction of Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Thames Valley Police previously said it was also reviewing allegations that a woman was trafficked to Britain by Epstein to have sex with Andrew. Thursday’s arrest has nothing to do with this.
Other police forces are also conducting their own investigations into Epstein’s ties to the UK, including assessing flight logs at major and minor airports. They are coordinating their work within a national group.
On Friday, London’s Metropolitan Police said it was assessing with the help of US counterparts whether the capital’s airports, including Heathrow, may have been used “to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation.”
It also said it was asking former and current officers protecting Mountbatten-Windsor to “consider carefully” whether they saw or heard anything that might be relevant to the investigation.
At present, she said no new criminal charges have been filed in relation to sex crimes in her jurisdiction.
Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in her relationship with Epstein, but has not commented on the recent allegations that emerged with the release of the so-called Epstein files.
Police entered the grounds of Mountbatten-Windsor’s home to arrest him at 8am on Thursday – his 66th birthday – and took him to Aylsham police station for questioning.
It is not known what he said to them. He may not have said anything, or may have had “no comment”, as is his right.
Experts said it is extremely difficult to prove misconduct in a public office.
“First, it must be determined whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was in a role within the government that constitutes the title of public official,” said criminal defense lawyer Sean Caulfield of Hodge Jones & Allen. “There is no standard definition to come up with clearly.”
The Crown Prosecution Service will ultimately decide whether to charge Mountbatten-Windsor, who is eighth in line to the throne.
Andrew Gilmore, a partner at Grosvenor Law, said prosecutors would apply a two-step test, known as the “Code for Crown Prosecutors”.
“That test is to determine whether there is a more realistic possibility of a conviction based on the evidence and whether the case is in the public interest,” he said. “If both of these tests are met, the case will be charged and will go to court.”
Mountbatten-Windsor was the first royal to be arrested since King Charles I nearly four centuries earlier. That marked a seismic moment in British history, resulting in civil war, the beheading of Charles, and the temporary abolition of the monarchy.
His arrest is undoubtedly one of the most serious crises to affect the House of Windsor since its establishment more than 100 years ago. Arguably, only the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936 and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 have been as serious to the institution of the British monarchy in modern times.
Although the king and the royal family will carry on with their official duties as normal, questions surrounding Mountbatten-Windsor will continue, not least because the investigation is likely to take time.
In a statement Thursday, King said, “The law must take its course,” but since “this process is ongoing, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further on this matter.”
The allegations being investigated Thursday are separate from those made by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have sex with the prince in 2001, when she was just 17. Giuffre died by suicide last year.
Still, Giuffre’s sister-in-law Amanda Roberts said she was overjoyed when she was told the news of the arrest at 3 a.m. But those feelings of happiness were quickly complicated by the realization that she could not share her feelings of “support” with Giuffre.
“We can’t tell her how much we love her and that everything she went through was in vain,” Roberts said, crying.
