Former prince Andrew released, Trump calls arrest shame
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of England’s King Charles, formerly known as Prince Andrew, leaves Aylsham Police Station in a vehicle on the same day he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office after the U.S. Department of Justice released more records related to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on February 19, 2026 in Aylsham, England.
Phil Noble | Reuters
British police on Thursday arrested the former prince and King George III. He released Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Charles’ brother, after previously arresting him on suspicion of abuse of public office.
The nature of the investigation has not yet been disclosed. But Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest comes after a renewed focus on her past friendship with now-dead notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after the US Department of Justice released millions of documents about Epstein.
Thames Valley Police, who arrested Mountbatten-Windsor without making it public, said they were evaluating reports that he sent Epstein. Confidential business reports of 2010While he was Britain’s special envoy for international trade.
“On Thursday … we arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office,” Thames Valley Police said in a statement.
“The arrested man was released under investigation,” police said. “We can also confirm that our searches in Norfolk have now concluded. Our searches in Berkshire are still ongoing.”
“I have learned with deep concern of the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the suspicion of misconduct in public office,” King Charles said in a statement early Thursday following his brother’s arrest.
“What will now come next will be the full, fair and proper process in which this matter will be investigated appropriately and by the relevant authorities,” the King said. “Let me be clear: The law must take its course.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday, President Donald Trump called Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest “disgraceful.”
“I think it’s very sad. I think it’s very bad for the royal family. It’s very, very sad. To me, it’s a very sad thing,” said Trump, himself a former friend of Epstein.
Charles stripped Mountbatten-Windsor of his title of prince in October and forced him out of his home near Windsor Castle because of his ties to Epstein, who killed himself in August 2019 after being arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges filed in New York.
Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any wrongdoing linked to Epstein, including allegations that he sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre, a known victim of Epstein, when she was 17.
In February 2022, Mountbatten-Windsor reached a confidential settlement with Giuffre in a lawsuit she filed in New York federal court over these allegations, without admitting wrongdoing.
But he accepted what was called at the time “a significant donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights” and said in a statement that he regretted his relationship with Epstein and praised “the courage of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.”
Giuffre died by suicide last April.
Epstein victim Maria Farmer said in a statement following Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest on Thursday: “Today is just the beginning of the accountability and justice laid out by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a young mother who adored her daughter so deeply that she fought the most powerful in the world to protect her. She did it for everyone’s daughters.”
“Now let’s demand that all the dominoes of power and corruption start falling,” Farmer said.
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