For decades, Sandringham Estate has been a place for the House of Windsor to escape from it all. Three hours northeast of London, the palatial country house, its 20,000 sprawling acres and residences is where King Charles III and his family celebrate Christmas, waving to admirers as they parade to church services in their holiday best.
Early Thursday morning, the idyllic estate was swarmed by unmarked police cars as officers arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the king’s brother, amid allegations that he shared confidential government information with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender. Later in the night, he would return to Sandringham, slinking low in the back seat of a black sport utility vehicle, with news cameras craning to capture his release.
The scenes of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor, already stripped of his title and kicked out of his longtime home, could be seen as an unmistakable message about the end of an era. Not since King Charles I was arrested and tried for treason nearly four centuries ago, in January 1649, has a British royal been detained.
The king’s family, long rocked by scandalous infighting and grievous losses, is now facing what could be the gravest threat in more than a generation to its moral authority and the central role it plays, culturally and symbolically, in the country. The arrest represents the ultimate collision of police and pageantry, upending fierce efforts by Buckingham Palace to distance itself from the accusations against the former prince.
The investigation into the former prince, which might continue for weeks or months, could rival royal weddings and coronations as one of the biggest public spectacles in modern British history. If charges are filed, by law and tradition, they will be formally brought in the king’s name: King Charles III v. his brother.
The arrest follows years in which the king, and before him his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, stayed silent on separate accusations that Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor forced Virginia Giuffre to have sex with him after she was trafficked by Mr. Epstein when she was 17 years old. The former prince has denied those allegations and wrongdoing related to Mr. Epstein.
“The royal family, far from dutifully serving the public in connection with this scandal that has enveloped Andrew, have not been transparent. They have not been forthcoming, secrets have persisted,” said Ed Owens, a historian and expert on Britain’s royal family. “It’s this lack of transparency that is the driving force of the moral problem at the heart of the mess for the monarchy.”
The king tried on Thursday to address the simmering anger about his family’s handling of his brother’s case, issuing a statement addressed to the British people and signed simply “Charles R.,” the “R” referring to Rex, or king. In it, he vowed not to interfere in the country’s criminal justice system and pledged to assist in the investigation as needed.
“What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities,” he said. “In this, as I have said before, they have our full and wholehearted support and cooperation.”
Across the globe — and especially in the United States — news of the former prince’s arrest underscored the striking lack of similar actions against people connected to Mr. Epstein despite the public disclosure of millions of pages of correspondence documenting his actions and communications with wealthy and connected elites.
In the United States, only Ghislaine Maxwell, Mr. Epstein’s longtime associate, was convicted, of sex trafficking for conspiring to exploit underage girls. Mr. Epstein was arrested and charged, but died in prison while awaiting trial.
After the former prince’s arrest on Thursday, a statement from the family of Ms. Giuffre, who killed herself last year, started with just two words: “At last.”
And yet, the investigation into Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor does not focus on the accusations of sexual assault leveled against him during the past decade.
Police are looking into whether Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor committed misconduct in public office while he served as a British trade envoy, amid reports that information was shared with Mr. Epstein.
In Britain, the arrest felt like the culmination of a decade-long drama that has chipped away at the royal family’s stature, bit by bit.
For years, the former prince’s links to Mr. Epstein plagued members of the royal family, even as they navigated the uncertainty of some of the most significant moments in British history. The death of Queen Elizabeth in 2022. The coronation of her son King Charles III. The very public defection of Harry, the Duke of Sussex, to the United States.
The period of intense scrutiny began in 2010, when Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor was spotted walking with Mr. Epstein in New York, two years after the financier’s conviction for soliciting an underage girl for prostitution. The former prince later said he had arranged the meeting to end the friendship with Mr. Epstein and that he wanted do so in person.
Correspondence from the recently released Epstein files in Washington show that he still maintained contact with Mr. Epstein.
In 2011, a British newspaper published a now-infamous photo of Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor with his arm around Ms. Giuffre’s waist when she was 17. The scrutiny intensified when Ms. Giuffre alleged in a 2015 lawsuit that she was trafficked by Mr. Epstein and forced by Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor to have sex several times, in three different cities.
Four years later, after Mr. Epstein was arrested and later died by suicide, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor tried to reclaim his reputation. He sat for an interview on BBC’s Newsnight program, where he claimed he had no recollection of the photo with Ms. Giuffre.
Nervous and evasive, the interview backfired. Viewers said they were shocked at his lack of sympathy for Ms. Giuffre and did not believe his denials of sexual misconduct. He tried to refute her allegation that they had sweated on a dance floor by claiming he was medically unable to perspire.
In the fallout from the interview, the former prince agreed to step back from some royal duties and, in 2021, settled a lawsuit with Ms. Giuffre, the details of which were sealed. Even then, the royal family remained silent, keeping the royal status quo for Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor.
He was finally stripped of his royal titles and royal residence last year, after Ms. Giuffre’s memoir revealed new details about her allegations. The latest release of Epstein files seemed to suddenly plunge him, and the royal family, into new territory, as the prospect of a criminal investigation into misconduct in public office emerged.
On Thursday, King Charles seemed eager to quickly move past his brother’s arrest, saying in his statement that “my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.” Hours later, the king appeared in the front row of a London fashion show while his wife, Queen Camilla, attended a lunchtime orchestral concert.
But the fallout is likely to continue for some time and could easily reach into the next royal generation, experts say. The king is receiving treatment for a cancer diagnosis and his heir, Prince William, said in his first comments on the case last week that he was “deeply concerned” about the allegations surrounding his uncle.
“If this episode drags on and on,” Mr. Owens said, noting the legal case could proceed for months or even years, “it could tarnish the beginnings of a new reign.”
Stephen Castle contributed reporting from London.
Michael D. Shear is a senior Times correspondent covering British politics and culture, and diplomacy around the world.
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