London, United Kingdom – Former United Kingdom Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of King Charles III, was released on Thursday after being held for almost 11 hours by police for questioning. His arrest was connected to an investigation into alleged misconduct in public office related to the Epstein case.
Thames Valley Police, the agency leading the investigation, released a brief statement on Thursday confirming that they had released a man “in his sixties” under investigation after his arrest in Norfolk, eastern England, on Thursday.
They also announced that they had concluded their inquiries in the area without explicitly identifying the man as Andrew.
However, the former Duke of York, who turned 66 on Thursday, was photographed inside a car leaving the Aylsham police station in Norfolk, eastern England, where he had been questioned by authorities following his arrest at his Sandringham estate that morning.
The photograph, taken almost 11 hours after his detention, shows Andrew reclining in the back seat of the vehicle with wide-open eyes and his hands clasped.
Thames Valley authorities, the police force whose jurisdiction includes Windsor (where Andrew lived until the recent forced abandonment of his Royal Lodge mansion) indicated that the investigation into several properties in the Berkshire region is still ongoing.
After learning of the arrest, King Charles III issued a brief statement expressing his “deepest concern” over his brother Andrew’s detention. Nevertheless, he backed the authorities, defended that “the law must take its course,” and maintained his public schedule.
The uproar surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of all his noble titles and honors by his brother in October, has deepened after emails disclosed by the United States Department of Justice revealed that the former Prince provided Epstein with sensitive government documents during his time as the UK’s special representative for trade and investment.
A few prior to his arrest, Thames Valley Police had reported that they were assessing that information to decide whether to proceed with a criminal investigation.
The scandal of the so-called ‘Epstein Files’ has caused a seismic shock to the UK monarchy, which is experiencing a difficult period, after Andrew became the first high-ranking member of the royal family in modern history to be arrested.
Although he has always denied his involvement in Epstein’s network of child sexual abuse, his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, and now Charles III, have taken steps to progressively remove him from public life to mitigate the reputational damage to the monarchy.
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