{"id":45817,"date":"2026-02-19T23:41:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/former-prince-andrew-released-after-arrest-that-followed-fresh-scrutiny-over-epstein-ties\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T23:41:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:41:19","slug":"former-prince-andrew-released-after-arrest-that-followed-fresh-scrutiny-over-epstein-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/former-prince-andrew-released-after-arrest-that-followed-fresh-scrutiny-over-epstein-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Prince Andrew released after arrest that followed fresh scrutiny over Epstein ties"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/699791fee1ba468a96ac5b0f?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in the back seat of a car.\"\/><figcaption>Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and released later in the day.<\/p>\n<p>Phil Noble\/Reuters<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday morning and released later that evening.<\/li>\n<li>Mountbatten-Windsor has faced intense scrutiny of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.<\/li>\n<li>Photos showed Mountbatten-Windsor as he was leaving the police station.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince, was released Thursday evening following his arrest earlier that morning on his 66th birthday.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, the UK&#039;s Thames Valley Police said it had arrested &quot;a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office,&quot; adding it was unable to name the man &quot;as part of national guidance.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&quot;The arrested man has now been released under investigation,&quot; the police said in a statement later in the day.<\/p>\n<p>Photos showed Mountbatten-Windsor leaving a police station Thursday evening in the back seat of a car.<\/p>\n<p>Around two hours after news of the arrest broke Thursday morning, King Charles released a statement saying: &quot;The law must take its course.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office,&quot; he added.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;What now follows is the full, fair, and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities. In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation,&quot; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Prince and Princess of Wales are understood to be aligned with the King&#039;s statement.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/6996efc8f8731049f3af6085?format=jpeg\" alt=\"Men step out of an unmarked car at the home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on February 19, 2026 in Sandringham, Norfolk\"\/><figcaption>Men step out of an unmarked car at the home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on February 19, 2026, in Sandringham, Norfolk.<\/p>\n<p>Peter Nicholls\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Earlier on Thursday, photos showed police at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where Mountbatten-Windsor is said to have been living. He previously lived in Windsor, Berkshire.<\/p>\n<p>The police said it was carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk. On Thursday evening, police said those searches had concluded.<\/p>\n<p>Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of King Charles, was stripped of his royal titles last year amid scrutiny of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n<p>The family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who said she was trafficked by Epstein to have sex with the former Prince three times, also issued a statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Today, our broken hearts have been lifted by the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty,&quot; they wrote.<\/p>\n<h2>Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor&#039;s Epstein ties<\/h2>\n<p>The latest release of the Epstein files showed more of Mountbatten-Windsor&#039;s communications with the convicted sex offender.<\/p>\n<p>In 2010 and 2011, when the former prince was a UK trade envoy, he appeared to forward official reports on his work visits to Epstein.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office,&quot; said Oliver Wright, assistant chief constable with the Thames Valley Police.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence,&quot; he added.<\/p>\n<p>Before the arrest, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the BBC, &quot;Nobody is above the law.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&quot;[The police] will conduct their own investigations, but one of the core principles in our system is that everybody is equal under the law and nobody is above the law,&quot; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The last time a senior member of the royal family faced arrest or police action appears to be in 2002. Princess Anne \u2014 Mountbatten-Windsor&#039;s sister \u2014 pleaded guilty under the Dangerous Dogs Act when her English bull terrier bit two children while walking in Windsor Great Park.<\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and released later in the day. Phil Noble\/Reuters Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday morning and released later that evening. Mountbatten-Windsor has faced intense scrutiny of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Photos showed Mountbatten-Windsor as he was leaving the police station. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45817","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}