A journalist appears to be like at Friday’s newspaper entrance pages in London after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held for hours by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public workplace associated to his hyperlinks to Jeffrey Epstein.
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Kin Cheung/AP
LONDON — Police searched the previous house of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor once more on Friday, a day after he was arrested and held in custody for practically 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public workplace associated to his friendship with the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Following some of the tumultuous days within the fashionable historical past of Britain’s royal household, the previous Prince Andrew is again at his new residence on the Sandringham property, King Charles III ‘s non-public retreat, which is round 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of London.
Police have concluded their search at Wooden Farm, the place Mountbatten-Windsor resides whereas ready for his new house close by, Marsh Farm, to be prepared.
They’re nonetheless looking out Royal Lodge, his 30-room former house within the parkland close to Windsor Fort, simply west of the capital, the place the king’s youthful brother had lived for many years till his eviction earlier this month. Unmarked vans, believed to be police autos, have been coming into the grounds all through Friday morning.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who was pictured slouched at the back of his chauffeur-driven automobile following his launch Thursday night from a police station close to Sandringham, stays below investigation, which suggests he has neither been charged nor exonerated by Thames Valley Police, the drive answerable for areas west of London.
Arrest was years within the making
His arrest follows years of allegations over his hyperlinks with Epstein, who took his personal life in a New York jail in 2019. The accusation on the coronary heart of his arrest is that Mountbatten-Windsor — who was referred to as Prince Andrew till October when his brother stripped him of his titles and honors and banished him from Royal Lodge — shared confidential commerce info with the disgraced financier when he was a commerce envoy for the U.Ok.
Particularly, emails launched final month by the U.S. Division of Justice appeared to point out Mountbatten-Windsor sharing studies of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.
One, dated November 2010, gave the impression to be forwarded by Andrew 5 minutes after he had acquired it. One other a number of weeks later appeared to point out him sending Epstein a confidential temporary on funding alternatives within the reconstruction of Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Thames Valley Police has beforehand stated it was additionally reviewing allegations {that a} girl was trafficked to the U.Ok. by Epstein to have a sexual encounter with Andrew. Thursday’s arrest had nothing to do with that.
Different police forces are additionally conducting their very own investigations into Epstein’s hyperlinks to the U.Ok., together with the evaluation of flight logs at airports, massive and small.
Mountbatten-Windsor has persistently denied any wrongdoing in his affiliation with Epstein however has not commented on the newest allegations which have emerged with the discharge of the so-called Epstein information.
Arrest was sudden, investigation will take time
Police swept into the grounds of Mountbatten-Windsor’s house to arrest him at 8 a.m. Thursday — his 66th birthday — earlier than taking him to Aylsham police station for questioning.
It is not recognized what he informed them. He could have stated nothing, or “no remark,” as is his proper.
Specialists stated that misconduct in a public workplace is notoriously tough to show.
“Firstly, it have to be decided if Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was in a job inside authorities that constitutes the title of public officer,” stated Sean Caulfield, a felony protection lawyer at Hodge Jones & Allen. “There is no such thing as a normal definition to obviously draw on.”
Britain’s then-Prince Andrew (middle) and his daughters Princess Eugenie (left) and Princess Beatrice go away Westminster Abbey after the marriage of Prince William to Catherine Middleton, in London, April 29, 2011.
Gero Breloer/AP
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Gero Breloer/AP
The Crown Prosecution Service will in the end decide about charging Mountbatten-Windsor, who stays eighth in line to the throne.
Andrew Gilmore, a companion at Grosvenor Regulation, stated that prosecutors will apply the two-stage check referred to as the “Code for Crown Prosecutors.”
“That check is to find out whether or not there’s a extra real looking prospect of a conviction than not based mostly on the proof and whether or not the matter is within the public curiosity,” he stated. “If these two assessments are met, then the matter will probably be charged and proceed to court docket.”
Arrest isn’t just uncommon, it is historic
Mountbatten-Windsor was the primary royal since King Charles I practically 4 centuries in the past to be positioned below arrest. That changed into a seismic second in British historical past, resulting in civil conflict, Charles’ beheading and the momentary abolition of the monarchy.
His arrest is undoubtedly one of many gravest crises to have an effect on the Home of Windsor since its institution greater than 100 years in the past. Arguably, solely the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, and the demise of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, have been as grave for the establishment of the British monarchy in fashionable occasions.
Although the king and the royal household will perform their regular duties as regular, the questions surrounding Mountbatten-Windsor will proceed, not least as a result of the investigations are more likely to take time.
In a press release Thursday, the king stated the “legislation should take its course,” however that as “this course of continues, it might not be proper for me to remark additional on this matter.”
The allegations should not associated to Epstein’s intercourse trafficking
The allegations being investigated Thursday are separate from these made by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have intercourse with the prince in 2001, when she was simply 17. Giuffre died by suicide final 12 months.
Nonetheless, Giuffre’s sister-in-law Amanda Roberts stated that she was overjoyed when she acquired a telephone name at 3 a.m. telling her the information of the arrest. However these emotions of elation had been shortly difficult by the conclusion that she could not share the emotions of “vindication” with Giuffre.
“We will not inform her how a lot we love her, and that every little thing that she was doing is just not in useless,” Roberts added tearfully.
