A journalist appears 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.
Kin Cheung/AP
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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 having shared confidential commerce info with the late convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In one other blow for the previous Prince Andrew, the British authorities is contemplating formally eradicating him from the road of succession to the crown. Regardless of shedding his standing as prince and dealing with a police investigation, Andrew stays eighth in line to the throne. That may solely be modified with new laws.
When the king stripped his brother of his titles within the fall, the federal government mentioned passing a brand new legislation wouldn’t be a very good use of Parliament’s time.
However that view has modified and the federal government is now contemplating laws as soon as the police investigation is completed. James Murray, the federal government’s chief secretary to the treasury, mentioned “the federal government is contemplating any additional steps that could be required, and we’re not ruling something out.”
The final time a royal was faraway from the road of succession was after the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, when the legislation was modified to strike him and any descendants from the listing.
Then-Prince Andrew leaves St. Giles Cathedral after the arrival of the coffin containing the stays of his mom Queen Elizabeth, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 12, 2022.
Petr David Josek/AP
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Petr David Josek/AP
Eradicating Andrew would additionally require settlement from greater than a dozen different international locations, together with Jamaica, Canada and Australia, which have the British monarch as head of state.
Following one of the crucial tumultuous days within the fashionable historical past of Britain’s royal household, the previous prince was again at his new residence on the Sandringham property, King Charles III ‘s personal retreat, round 115 miles (185 kilometers) northeast of London.
Police have concluded their search there, however are nonetheless looking Royal Lodge, his 30-room former house within the parkland close to Windsor Fortress, 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 automobiles, have been coming into the grounds Friday morning.
The search is anticipated to proceed for a number of days.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who was pictured slouched behind his chauffeur-driven automobile following his launch Thursday night from a police station close to Sandringham, stays underneath investigation, which suggests he has neither been charged nor exonerated by Thames Valley Police, the power chargeable for areas west of London.
Arrest was years within the making
His arrest follows years of allegations over his hyperlinks with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019.
The accusation on the coronary heart of his arrest is that Mountbatten-Windsor — who was generally known 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.
Emails launched final month by the U.S. Division of Justice appeared to indicate Mountbatten-Windsor sharing stories of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore, and sending Epstein a confidential transient on funding alternatives in Afghanistan.
Thames Valley Police has beforehand mentioned 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. They’re coordinating their work inside a nationwide group.
On Friday, London’s Metropolitan Police mentioned it was assessing, with the assistance of U.S. counterparts, whether or not the capital’s airports, which embody Heathrow, “could have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation.”
It additionally mentioned that it is asking previous and current officers who protected Mountbatten-Windsor to “take into account rigorously” whether or not they noticed or heard something which may be related to the investigations.
As of now, it mentioned no new prison allegations have been made concerning sexual offenses inside its jurisdiction.
Mountbatten-Windsor has constantly 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 recordsdata.
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 identified what he informed them. He could have mentioned nothing, or “no remark,” as is his proper.
Consultants mentioned that misconduct in a public workplace is notoriously tough to show.
