Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of Britain’s King Charles III, left police after nearly 12 hours of questioning, The Guardian reported on the evening of 19 February.
Andrew was seen in the back seat of a car leaving the grounds of a police station in Aylsham in the English county of Norfolk. Police said Andrew has been ” released under investigation”, meaning the investigation into him is ongoing.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on the morning of 19 February and is suspected of an offence of malpractice. Andrew was detained on his birthday, he was 66 years old. King Charles III supported the investigation against his brother: “let me be clear: the law must prevail”.
Andrew was friends with American businessman Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of trafficking people for sexualised exploitation. One of Epstein’s victims, American Virginia Giuffre, said he “lent” her to his powerful acquaintances, particularly Andrew. She said she had sex with Andrew three times in 2001, when she was 17. Giuffré took her own life in April 2025.
The last time a member of the British royal family was apprehended was more than 350 years ago. In 1647, Charles I was captured during the Civil War, convicted of treason and executed.