Thames Valley Police is investigating Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office and has requested documents from The Mail on Sunday. Andrew was arrested by Thames Valley Police on February 19, 2024, his 66th birthday, and released under investigation after 11 hours. Detectives are examining Andrew's conduct as a UK trade envoy after the disclosure of emails from Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has denied all wrongdoing.
According to recently published files, in 2010, Andrew appears to have forwarded government reports from visits to Vietnam, Singapore, and China to Epstein. On 30 November 2010, Andrew appeared to have forwarded official reports of those visits to Epstein five minutes after receiving them from his special assistant, according to the emails. The documents also indicate Andrew forwarded Epstein information on investment opportunities in gold and uranium in Afghanistan. A briefing prepared for Andrew by UK officials was forwarded to Epstein in December 2010 and includes a list of 'high-value commercial opportunities' in Helmand province, according to a BBC report.
The Mail on Sunday revealed that the Duke of York maintained his friendship with convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and stayed at Epstein's New York home after Epstein's release from prison. A photograph emerged of the Duke of York with his arm around a teenage girl who had been abused by Epstein. The FBI wanted to interview then-Prince Andrew about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, but the UK Home Secretary blocked the interview, according to multiple reports. Andrew was stripped of his titles last year by King Charles over his friendship with Epstein.
Officers searched Wood Farm at Sandringham and Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park. Thames Valley Police is searching Andrew's former Windsor home, Royal Lodge, in connection with his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Officers are expected to continue their search of Royal Lodge over the weekend and into Monday, according to BBC understanding. Andrew was released from custody and returned to Sandringham in Norfolk last night.
Emails revealed that Andrew, as UK trade envoy, plugged a private Luxembourg-based bank for the super-rich owned by David Rowland and passed on a private Treasury briefing about the Icelandic financial crisis to the Rowlands. An email from the dossier showed King Charles was warned by a whistleblower in 2019 about Andrew's business associations with the Rowlands. Andrew and David Rowland have been friends since at least 2005, and Andrew unveiled a bronze statue of Rowland in 2005 and launched Banque Havilland in 2009.
David Cameron, as prime minister, sacked the Duke of York from his role as an ambassador for British trade in 2011. Andrew served as a UK trade envoy between 2001 and 2011. Under official guidance, trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive information.
Officials in the United Kingdom are carrying out unprecedented investigations into both Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Emails released by the Department of Justice suggested that both Andrew and Peter Mandelson appeared to share sensitive information with Epstein stemming from their roles. In one email, Mandelson appeared to confirm the timing of an impending bailout with Epstein during the European Union's sovereign debt crisis, according to the email referenced by Rowley. Peter Mandelson was arrested on Monday in a separate misconduct in public office probe related to his links to Epstein.
According to sources, the police inquiry into Andrew is likely to widen to include alleged sex trafficking claims. Virginia Guiffre alleged that Epstein trafficked her in 2001 to have sex with Andrew. However, Sir Mark Rowley said interviews with Virginia Guiffre did not provide evidence of sexual offending or trafficking that could be investigated in the UK.
Guiffre's allegations are not credible.
The Metropolitan Police said no new criminal allegations have been made to the Met regarding sexual offences said to have occurred within its jurisdiction. The Metropolitan Police is assessing 'a whole range of suggested sexual allegations' to determine if any merit a criminal investigation, according to Sir Mark Rowley. The Metropolitan Police is contacting Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's protection officers to ask if anything they saw or heard while working for him may be relevant to ongoing enquiries.
Andrew has denied all wrongdoing. Andrew was spotted taking his dog for a walk at Sandringham after his arrest. Andrew has only been arrested and released under investigation; he has not been charged.
The government is considering introducing legislation to remove Andrew from the line of royal succession, according to BBC understanding. The UK government supports the release of documents on Andrew's past role as a trade envoy. The Liberal Democrats tabled a motion in parliament to force the government to release vetting documents on Andrew's appointment as trade envoy.
Andrew's arrest was the first time in almost 400 years that a senior member of the Royal Family has been detained. The scandal caused by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is worse than the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936, according to Andrew Lownie.
The late Queen 'crossed the line' legally by making allowances for Andrew, her favourite child, according to Andrew Lownie. The late Queen was 'completely gaga' by the end of her life, and Andrew bullied her into doing things, with Charles running the show, according to Andrew Lownie. MI6 officers with concerns about Andrew's behavior were sent away 'with a flea in their ear', Lownie further alleged.
According to a family member, the Duke of York drove a blue Bentley aggressively at Buckingham Palace, throwing gravel over other people's cars, before an investiture in 2011. A former member of the Household described the Duke of York bellowing at a groom from the Royal Mews at Windsor, demanding her name and taking it up with the Queen.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is pushing U.S. officials for unredacted material from the Epstein files for ongoing investigations. Andrew settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre while not admitting liability.
According to prosecutors, Andrew was protected. There is an assumption that Andrew's arrest relates to the alleged sharing of documents within the Epstein files between Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein, according to UK correspondent Daniel Sandford. Thames Valley Police identified Andrew only as a man in his 60s from Norfolk, England.