Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has cast a long shadow over the British monarchy, even as King Charles III has taken strong action recently against his younger brother.
The case has the potential to shake confidence in a central pillar of the British establishment.
On Thursday morning, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, was arrested on suspicions of misconduct in public office amid reports that he had shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a British trade envoy. In response to the arrest, the king said that “the law must take its course.”
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor was later released from police custody after 7 p.m. local time, but he remained under investigation, the Thames Valley Police said in a statement.
It has been hard lately for senior royals to ignore the swirling family drama. During a recent public appearance, King Charles was heckled by a bystander about the Epstein case, a rare occurrence for a monarch who is usually greeted by polite applause from flag-waving crowds.
Even thousands of miles from Britain, on a recent visit to Saudi Arabia, there was no escape for his son Prince William. He appeared to ignore a television reporter’s shouted question about whether the royal family had done enough about the revelations about Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor’s ties to Mr. Epstein.
A British anti-monarchy group, known as Republic, claimed credit on Thursday for the arrest of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, saying in a statement that it was in response to a crime report sent to police by the group’s chief executive officer, Graham Smith.
The police statement Thursday made no mention of the most damaging accusation against Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor so far — that Mr. Epstein had trafficked one of his victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, to Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor around 2001, when she was a teenager, and that he had sexually assaulted her. Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has denied wrongdoing.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his title as prince last year, and he left his 30-room mansion, part of the crown properties in Windsor, this year.
Critics point out that despite the loss of his title, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor remains eighth in line to the throne. Among politicians, there is discussion about whether he should be formally stripped of his place in the line of succession, even if there is no realistic prospect of his becoming king.
There is also pressure for Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor to testify to the U.S. Congress about his relationship with Mr. Epstein, who died in jail in 2019. The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.
Speaking to the BBC on Thursday, Jonathan Dimbleby, a veteran broadcaster and friend of the king, said that Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor had “done significant damage for the moment to how people see the institution” and caused a “personal crisis for the individuals involved” in the monarchy.
But he argued that it was a positive sign for Britain’s constitutional arrangements that the police could act against the king’s brother “without fear or favor.”
Stephen Castle is a London correspondent of The Times, writing widely about Britain, its politics and the country’s relationship with Europe.
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