SANDRINGHAM: Former prince Andrew hunkered down Friday at home on the king&#39;s private estate after hours of police questioning, as his stunning arrest tipped the British monarchy into an unprecedented crisis in its modern era. The disgraced royal was &quot;released under investigation&quot; late Thursday, with police believed to be continuing Friday searches of his former home on the royals&#39; Windsor estate, west of London. In a sensational development in investigations into his links to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew spent around 11 hours in custody after police arrested him on suspicion of misconduct. Officers swooped early Thursday on his home in Sandringham, eastern England, taking him into custody at a nearby police station while also raiding his former Windsor home.&nbsp;&lsquo;Law must take its course&rsquo;&nbsp;It prompted the king to swiftly issue a rare personally signed statement insisting &quot;the law must take its course&quot;, as he reiterated Buckingham Palace would support the police probe. &quot;It&#39;s a hugely significant moment for the British monarchy,&quot; royal expert Ed Owens told AFP, noting much remained unclear, including whether Andrew would be criminally charged. &quot;It&#39;s the unknown elements in this particular instance that I think pose so much concern and arguably a threat to the monarchy.&quot; &lsquo;Downfall&rsquo;&nbsp;Almost all Britain&#39;s newspapers carried on their front pages Friday a photograph of the disgraced royal, leaving the police station in a vehicle, looking haggard and wild-eyed. &quot;Downfall,&quot; screamed the Daily Mail headline. The Sun tabloid noted that, like anyone arrested, Andrew would have had a DNA&nbsp;saliva swab taken along with his fingerprints and a photograph. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;So bad&#39;&nbsp;</h2>The day of drama in Britain sent shockwaves around the world, with US President Donald Trump calling it &quot;very sad&quot;. &quot;It&#39;s so bad for the royal family,&quot; he told reporters. Andrew&#39;s arrest follows new revelations last week that the ex-prince appeared to have sent Epstein potentially confidential documents while serving as a UK trade envoy, a post he held from 2001. In a November 2010 email seen by AFP, Andrew appeared to share with the US financier reports on his visit to several Asian countries. Epstein had been convicted in the United States in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution. Official guidance is thought to stipulate that trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive commercial or political information related to their official visits. The former prince&#39;s humiliating day in custody, which coincided with his 66th birthday, was the most dramatic yet in his years-long fall from grace. <h2 style="line-height: 2;">&#39;Difficult&#39;&nbsp;</h2>King Charles III last year stripped his brother of his titles and ordered him to leave his Windsor mansion -- though he does remain eighth in the line of succession. That followed one of Epstein&#39;s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, last year recounting in shocking detail in her posthumous memoirs claims that she had been trafficked three times to have sex with Andrew, twice when she was 17. Andrew has previously denied any wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein. He settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre while not admitting liability. Charles sought to project an air of business-as-usual Thursday, carrying out several public duties, including opening London Fashion Week. Most severe crisisBut royal commentators were in no doubt that the monarchy was facing its most severe crisis in decades. Royal historian Anna Whitelock said it was the first arrest of a member of Britain&#39;s royal family in centuries - possibly stretching back to Charles I&#39;s surrender to the Scots army in 1646. &quot;Usually there is the usual&nbsp;&#39;keep calm and carry on&#39; but it&#39;s going to be very difficult in these circumstances,&quot; she told AFP. The police probe into misconduct in a public office allegations follow the US Justice Department&#39;s release last month of millions of files from its investigation into Epstein. The offence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. At least nine UK police forces have confirmed they are assessing claims stemming from the Epstein files, many related to Andrew.

United Kingdom

In a sensational development in investigations into his links to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew spent around 11 hours in custody after police arrested him on suspicion of misconduct.

UK monarchy reels from Andrew's stunning arrest

LONDON: Britain&#39;s royal family was thrown into crisis Thursday after former prince Andrew was arrested by police and held for hours, in a blow to the monarchy unprecedented in modern British history. The disgraced royal was detained early Thursday on suspicion of misconduct for his links to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. As Andrew marked his 66th birthday on Thursday, police swooped on the remote Sandringham royal estate in eastern England around 8:00 am (0800 GMT). King Charles III, who has promised police the full support of Buckingham Palace, swiftly issued a rare personally signed statement insisting: &quot;The law must take its course.&quot; It was a humiliating new blow for Andrew, who was last year stripped of his titles and ousted from his Windsor residence of more than two decades. Thames Valley Police said in a statement late Thursday: &quot;The arrested man has now been released under investigation.&quot; A photograph published by the media showed Andrew slumped in the back of a car, staring wild-eyed ahead. While the earlier police searches in Norfolk &quot;have now concluded,&quot; they were still searching a property in Berkshire, police added. It is believed that this is Andrew&#39;s former residence, Royal Lodge. &quot;It&#39;s a hugely significant moment for the British monarchy, and indeed the nation,&quot; royal expert Ed Owens told AFP. &quot;We are witnessing a monarchy, I think, shaken by recent events.&quot; In the sleepy village of Sandringham near the royal estate, an off-duty police officer said he was &quot;very satisfied some formal action was taken.&quot; &quot;It&#39;s very reassuring to the members of the public,&quot; the officer, who did not want to be named, told AFP. Thames Valley police said it had arrested &quot;a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office,&quot; without naming the suspect, as is common UK practice. US President Donald Trump called the arrest &quot;very sad&quot;, adding, &quot;It&#39;s so bad for the royal family,&quot; in comments to reporters. &#39;Moment of crisis&#39;&nbsp;Andrew&#39;s arrest follows new revelations last week that the ex-prince appeared to have sent Epstein potentially confidential documents while serving as a UK trade envoy, a post he held from 2001. In a November 2010 email seen by AFP, Andrew appeared to share with the US financier reports on his visit to several Asian countries. Epstein had been convicted in the United States in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution. Charles last year stripped his brother of his titles and ordered him to leave his Windsor mansion &mdash; though he does remain eighth in the line of succession. &quot;Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,&quot; the king said in his statement. In an apparent bid to project an air of business-as-usual, Charles carried out several public duties on Thursday, including opening London Fashion Week. In the Norfolk village of Dersingham, local pub owner John Higginson said he hoped the issue would be &quot;resolved.&quot; &quot;I just feel sorry, to be quite honest, for people like William and Kate,&quot; he added, referring to the heir to the throne and his wife. Royal commentator Katie Nicholl told Sky News: &quot;Let&#39;s make no bones about it. This is a moment of crisis for the monarchy, possibly the greatest crisis since the (1936) abdication. No one quite knows how this is going to pan out.&quot; The scandal has been gathering pace since one of Epstein&#39;s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, last year claimed in her posthumous memoirs that she had been trafficked three times to have intercourse with Andrew when she was a teenager. The Giuffre family welcomed Andrew&#39;s arrest on Thursday, saying: &quot;Our broken hearts have been lifted at the news.&quot; Wide probe&nbsp;Andrew has previously denied any wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein. He settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre while not admitting liability. Official guidance stipulates trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive commercial or political information related to their official visits, the BBC has said. Misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, according to the Crown Prosecution Service. The US Justice Department last month released millions of files from its investigation into the US financier. At least nine UK police forces have confirmed they are assessing claims stemming from the Epstein files, many related to Andrew.

Europe

Police confirm that their searches in Norfolk have now concluded; It is understood that reported searches of Andrew's former home on the Windsor estate, west of London, remained ongoing.

UK police hold ex-prince Andrew for hours in misconduct probe

LONDON: Britain&#39;s former prince Andrew was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct during his time as a trade envoy, as UK police investigations into allegations emerging from the Jeffrey Epstein files gathered pace. Unprecedented in Britain&#39;s modern era, the arrest was a new blow for the ousted royal, who was marking his 66th birthday on Thursday. Andrew was last year stripped of all his titles, having been forced out of his former home by his brother King Charles III. As part of the investigation into Andrew, &quot;we have today (19/2) arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office,&quot; Thames Valley police said in a statement, without naming the suspect, as is common practice in the UK. Several UK media outlets reported that a fleet of unmarked cars, believed to be police vehicles, was seen arriving early Thursday at the Sandringham estate in eastern England, where Andrew now resides. New revelations last week appeared to show that Andrew sent potentially confidential documents to convicted US sex offender Epstein during his time as a UK trade envoy. In a November 2010 email seen by AFP, Andrew appeared to share with Epstein reports on Vietnam, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Singapore following an official visit to Asia. The ex-royal, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, also reportedly sent the American financier details of the trip -- on which he was accompanied by Epstein&#39;s business associates -- along with investment opportunities months later. The former prince was eventually stripped of his titles after one of Epstein&#39;s victims alleged she had been trafficked to have sex with him. He has previously denied any wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein. Charles has voiced &quot;concern&quot; over his brother&#39;s actions and, last week, issued an unprecedented statement noting that Buckingham Palace was &quot;ready to support&quot; the police in their inquiries. Official guidance stipulates that trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality regarding sensitive, commercial, or political information related to their official visits, the BBC has said. Andrew, whose ties to Epstein have caused a spectacular years-long fall from grace, served as a British trade envoy for a decade from 2001. Police &#39;aware&#39; of reportAt least nine separate UK police forces have confirmed they are assessing reports which appear to link the former prince to Epstein. Police in Surrey, southeastern England, said Wednesday they had become &quot;aware&quot; of a redacted report alleging &quot;human trafficking and sexual assaults on a minor&quot; between 1994 and 1996 in the village of Virginia Water. The report emerged in the latest tranche of millions of files released by the US Justice Department from the investigation into Epstein, who died in prison in 2019. &quot;After reviewing our systems using the limited information available to us, we found no evidence of these allegations being reported to Surrey Police,&quot; its statement read. &quot;We therefore encourage anyone with information in relation to these allegations to report this to us.&quot; The statement did not name any individuals involved. But it comes as high-profile figures, including former UK prime minister Gordon Brown, have urged police to probe dozens of flights dating back decades arriving at UK airports and tied to Epstein. Writing in the New Statesman magazine last week, Brown said he had been &quot;told privately that the investigations related to the former Prince Andrew did not properly check vital evidence of flights.&quot; &quot;I have asked the police to look at this as part of the new inquiry,&quot; he stated, adding it appeared &quot;the authorities never knew what was happening.&quot; London&#39;s Metropolitan police has also launched an investigation into the relationship between the UK&#39;s former ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, and the disgraced financier.

Britain's former prince Andrew has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct during his time as a trade envoy, police said Thursday.

Articles tagged with "Britain's former prince Andrew"

UK monarchy reels from Andrew's stunning arrest

UK police hold ex-prince Andrew for hours in misconduct probe

UK police arrest ex-prince Andrew on suspicion of misconduct