Former prince Andrew released from police station 10 hours after arrest over Epstein ties

After 7 p.m. local time, former Prince Andrew left the Norfolk police station in a vehicle, more than 10 hours after his arrest on Thursday morning in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein case. A Reuters photographer captured the distressed face of King Charles III’s brother, reclining in the back seat of a Range Rover, his agitated gaze captured by the camera flash.

At least eight police vehicles stormed the British royal family’s Sandringham estate at 8 a.m. on Thursday, where former Prince Andrew of England has been living since his brother, King Charles III, evicted him from his Windsor mansion. It was the 66th birthday of Elizabeth II’s third child. The police operation has come as a seismic shock that is on track to become the biggest crisis the modern British royal family has faced. The officers arrested Andrew, accused of misconduct in public office, over his relationship and dealings with disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Hours earlier, in an interview with the BBC, Prime Minister Keir Starmer pointed out that “nobody is above the law,” referring to the police investigations into the former prince.

Following the police operation, King Charles III said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace: “I have learned with the deepest concern the news about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and suspicion of misconduct in public office. 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.“ The monarch added: ”Let me state clearly: the law must take its course. As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter. Meanwhile, my family and I will continue in our duty and service to you all.”

Thames Valley Police issued a statement confirming the arrest without naming Andrew: “As part of the investigation, we have today arrested a man in his sixties from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk. The man remains in police custody at this time. We will not be naming the arrested man, as per national guidance,” the police statement said.

Under British law, Andrew, who will have been held in a police cell until the start of his interrogation, could be detained for up to 96 hours, but that would require complex extension requests and court applications. The normal period is between 12 and 24 hours, during which officers decide whether to charge the suspect and whether to release them on bail.

The new batch of documents and files on Epstein published by the U.S. Department of Justice has once again highlighted the close and complicit friendship between the former prince and the deceased financier, as well as a series of allegedly criminal acts carried out between the two that have shocked the British public.