U.K. police search ex-Prince Andrew’s home after arrest over Epstein ties : NPR
A journalist looks at the front pages of a Friday newspaper in London after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and detained for hours by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
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Kin Cheung/AP
LONDON — Police raided Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home again on Friday, a day after he was arrested and detained for nearly 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
After one of the most tumultuous days in the modern history of the British royal family, the former Prince Andrew has returned to his new residence at the Sandringham Estate, the private retreat of King Charles III, located about 115 miles north of London.
Police have completed their search at Wood Farm, where Mountbatten-Windsor lives, while waiting for her new home nearby, Marsh Farm, to be ready.
They are still searching for Royal Lodge, his former 30-room house in a park near Windsor Castle, just west of the capital, where the king’s younger brother had lived for decades until his eviction earlier this month. Unmarked vans, presumably police vehicles, entered the field throughout Friday morning.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who was pictured slumped in the back of his chauffeur-driven car after his release on Thursday evening from a police station near Sandringham, remains under investigation, meaning he has neither been charged nor cleared by Thames Valley Police, the force responsible for areas west of London.
The arrest lasted for years
His arrest follows years of allegations about his links to Epstein, who committed suicide in a New York prison in 2019. The accusation at the heart of 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 banned him from Royal Lodge – shared confidential business information with the disgraced financier while he was a trade envoy for the United Kingdom.
Specifically, emails released last month by the U.S. Department of Justice appeared to show that Mountbatten-Windsor shared reports of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.
One of them, dated November 2010, appears to have been forwarded by Andrew five minutes after receiving it. A few weeks later, he was shown sending Epstein a confidential brief about investment opportunities in the reconstruction of Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Thames Valley Police previously said they were also looking into allegations that a woman was trafficked to the UK by Epstein to have a sexual relationship with Andrew. Thursday’s arrest had nothing to do with that.
Other police forces are also carrying out their own investigations into Epstein’s links to the UK, including assessing flight logs at airports large and small.
Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in her association with Epstein, but has not commented on the most recent allegations that emerged with the release of the so-called Epstein files.
The arrest was sudden, the investigation will take time
Police swarmed the grounds of Mountbatten-Windsor’s home to arrest him at 8am on Thursday – his 66th birthday – before taking him to Aylsham police station for questioning.
We don’t know what he told them. He may have said nothing, or “no comment,” as is his right.
Experts have said it is notoriously difficult to prove misconduct in public office.
“First, it must be determined whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor held a role in government that constitutes the title of public officer,” said Sean Caulfield, a criminal attorney at Hodge Jones & Allen. “There is no standard definition to clearly rely on.”
Britain’s Prince Andrew (center) and his daughters Princess Eugenie (left) and Princess Beatrice leave Westminster Abbey after Prince William’s wedding to Catherine Middleton, in London, April 29, 2011.
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The Crown Prosecution Service will ultimately make the decision to charge Mountbatten-Windsor, who remains eighth in line to the throne.
Andrew Gilmore, a partner at Grosvenor Law, said prosecutors will apply the two-step test known as the “Code for Crown Prosecutors”.
“This test seeks to determine whether there is a more realistic prospect of a conviction based on the evidence and whether the case is in the public interest,” he said. “If these two criteria are met, the matter will be taken to court.”
The arrest is not only unusual, it’s historic
Mountbatten-Windsor was the first royal since King Charles I, almost four centuries ago, to be arrested. It turned into a seismic moment in British history, leading to civil war, the beheading of Charles and the temporary abolition of the monarchy.
His arrest is undoubtedly one of the most serious crises to hit the House of Windsor since its founding 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 for the institution of the British monarchy in modern times.
Although the king and royal family will carry out their duties as normal, questions surrounding Mountbatten-Windsor will persist, not least because investigations are likely to take time.
In a statement Thursday, the king said “the law must take its course” but that as “this process continues, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further on this matter.”
Allegations are not related to Epstein sex trafficking
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 years old. Giuffre committed suicide last year.
Still, Giuffre’s sister-in-law, Amanda Roberts, said she was elated when she received a phone call at 3 a.m. with the news of the arrest. But these feelings of elation were quickly complicated by the realization that she could not share the feelings of “justification” with Giuffre.
“We can’t tell her how much we love her and that everything she did wasn’t in vain,” Roberts added through tears.
