Peter Mandelson, who served as British ambassador to the United States last year, was arrested in London on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office amid the fallout from the releaseof documents revealing his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The BBC broadcast video showing the British peer being taken into custody outside his Camden home.
Mandelson resigned from both the Labour Party and the House of Lords this month amid renewed scrutiny of his relationship with the late financier, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution, including of a minor. On Feb. 6, British police searched two properties linked to Mandelson as part of a misconduct investigation.
His arrest comes after that of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, a younger brother of King Charles III, who was detained Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The former prince had already been stripped of his titles and forced out of his longtime residence over his ties to Epstein.
Justice Department documents appeared to show that Epstein made payments totaling about $75,000 to accounts linked to Mandelson when he was a Labour member of Parliament in the early 2000s, the Financial Times reported.
The Metropolitan Police does not name suspects who haven’t been charged. A spokesperson said Monday that officers had arrested a 72-year-old man in Camden and taken him to a London police station to be interviewed.
In a statement, the spokesperson referred to earlier “search warrants at two addresses in the Wiltshire and Camden areas,” where Mandelson maintains homes. The BBC video showed people in suits leading Mandelson from his Camden home Monday into an unmarked car and driving away.
Mandelson could not immediately be reached for comment. In a letter this month to Labour officials, he insisted he had no record or recollection of payments from Epstein and that the allegations “need investigating by me.”
The Metropolitan Police opened a criminal investigation into Mandelson last month. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, an independent agency that prosecutes criminal cases investigated by police in Britain, misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Analysts, however, say it’s a broad and difficultcrime to charge and prosecute.
The release by the Justice Department under congressional order of more than 3 million files related to Epstein last month has led officials in Britain, France and other European nations to open investigations and establish independent commissions to consider evidence of potential crimes. The revelations already have prompted resignations, raids and arrests.
In the United States, senior Democrats have contrasted those actions with the comparatively muted response stateside.
Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two charges of soliciting prostitution, one of which involved a minor. He was arrested on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019 and died in federal custody that year. His death was ruled a suicide.
Over decades, judges and lawmakers say, Epstein abused, trafficked and molested scores of girls. Many of his victims have come forward in court and in other public forums.
“I want to take this opportunity,” Mandelson wrote in his letter, “to repeat my apology to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer dismissed Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to Washington in September after communications emerged showing a closer relationship with Epstein than Mandelson had acknowledged.
Morgan McSweeney, Starmer’s chief of staff, stepped down amid growing criticism over Mandelson’s appointment in December 2024 despite knowledge that he’d had a relationship with Epstein. Starmer, who is himself facing calls to resign over the matter, has said Mandelson lied about how close they were.
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