British police arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office after accusations that he shared confidential government information as a trade envoy for the British government with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender.
It is the latest step in a stunning fall from grace for Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, and has sparked the most serious crisis for the royal family in decades.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, is the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and eighth in line to the throne. He was adored by his mother, with some royal watchers claiming that he was her favorite child.
As a child, he was educated at the Gordonstoun boarding school in Scotland, like his father and his older brother, King Charles III.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor went on to serve in the military, flying helicopter missions for the Royal Navy during the Falkland Islands War with Argentina in 1982. He remained on active duty after the war ended and retired from the military in 2001.
After the war, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor became one of the most popular members of the royal family, and was seen as a dashing war hero and eligible bachelor.
He married Sarah Ferguson in 1986 at Westminster Abbey, and the couple had two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, before they divorced in 1996.
From 2001 to 2011, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor served as trade envoy for the British government, a role that is part ambassador and part salesman. The idea was to use his royal title to help the British business community, and he traveled the world on behalf of the government. He also founded a “Shark Tank”-style event to support tech entrepreneurs in Britain, often hosting events at some of the royal palaces.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor became close to Mr. Epstein, whom he met in the late 1990s through Ghislaine Maxwell. He told the BBC in 2019 that the friendship was valuable, partly because of the networking opportunities it offered.
In October, he was stripped of his title as prince after new information came out about his relationship with Mr. Epstein, including details about his relationship with a young woman trafficked to him by Mr. Epstein.
The depth of their friendship has become even clearer in a new tranche of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice. The files included photographs that showed the former prince kneeling over a woman lying on the ground, and emails that appear to be from the former prince to Mr. Epstein.
Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Amelia Nierenberg is a Times reporter covering international news from London.
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