Police activity continues for the second day in a row at the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of King Charles III, in the county of Berkshire, on the outskirts of London, following his arrest and subsequent release on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was released after spending 11 hours in custody.
Thames Valley police, who ordered the arrest of the former Duke of York, reported this Friday (20) that searches at a property in Norfolk, in eastern England, have been completed, but continue at the mansion of Royal Lodge, in Berkshire, where Andrew lived until a few weeks ago, before being evicted by the king. To date, he has not been formally charged.
According to the British broadcaster BBCAndrew was not arrested for information related to one of the victims who accused him of rape, Virginia Giuffre. The arrest, in fact, is linked to a complaint contained in the files that the former Duke of York passed on confidential documents from the time when he was special representative of United Kingdom Trade to the deceased pedophile.
According to the indictment, Andrew facilitated Epstein’s access to sensitive British government documents in the first decade of the 2000s. The documents under analysis, a series of emails published by the US Department of Justice, suggest that the former prince shared reports of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore with Epstein. The investigation is being carried out by Thames Valley police, the jurisdiction to which Windsor belongs, where Royal Lodge is located.
The king’s brother on Thursday became the first royal in modern history to be arrested. Leaving the Aylsham police station in Norfolk in a vehicle, Andrew was photographed reclining and looking tired in the back seat of the car.
The former prince, arrested on the day he turned 66, was later taken to the country house on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where he currently lives. Andrew denies any wrongdoing related to his links to the sex offender, found dead in prison in 2019.
In addition to the direct investigation involving the royal member stripped of his titles, authorities are evaluating Epstein’s other ties to the United Kingdom. Specifically, they are investigating the landings and takeoffs of the American criminal’s private jet at different airports in the country, in order to establish whether he used flights to transport minors for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
What happened during the former prince’s arrest?
Andrew was taken to Aylsham police station in Norfolk shortly after his arrest on Thursday morning.
Although many details of the arrest have not been revealed, there are standard procedures for authorities to follow. According to the newspaper The Sunthe former prince had his fingerprints taken, took photos for the police record and provided DNA samples, like “any common criminal”.
The British press also reported that Queen Elizabeth II’s son was not handcuffed to the police station. There, he underwent physical and psychological examinations to determine whether he was fit to remain detained and be interrogated, in a process that lasted until the evening of the same day.
According to the BBCthe cell in which the former prince spent his hours of detention would have a bathroom and he would have been offered a bed.
