LONDON – Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has suffered a sharp decline in his reputation over the past decade, culminating so far with his arrest by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public life over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
The BBC first reported the development, which was later confirmed by police and King Charles.
The former prince, the king’s younger brother, faces multiple allegations related to his relationship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender and sex trafficker. Britain’s Thames Valley Police did not release details of the Mountbatten-Windsor investigation on February 19. However, police previously said they were investigating allegations that he shared confidential government information with a late sex offender.
Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing over his friendship or ties to Epstein.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein: How it all started
In a 2019 interview with the BBC, then-Prince Andrew said he first met Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and daughter of media mogul Robert Maxwell, when she was studying at Oxford University in the 1980s. Maxwell then introduced him to Epstein in 1999. Epstein and Maxwell were in a relationship at the time.
Files released by the U.S. Department of Justice show that Mountbatten-Windsor, Maxwell and Epstein had developed a strong bond that continued even after Epstein was convicted of child sex crimes in 2008.
Ex-Prince and Epstein: How it escalated
In 2019, Virginia Roberts Giuffre filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court alleging that Epstein trafficked her into having sex with Mountbatten-Windsor three times when she was 17, a minor under U.S. law.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied the allegations. However, he also decided to reach a settlement with Giuffre over this matter. But when Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025, and her memoir Nobody’s Girl was published six months later, sexual abuse accusations flared again.
In her memoir, Giuffre said the then-crown prince was “friendly enough, but entitled to have sex with me, as if he believed it was his birthright.” His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, stripped her son of his military title and royal patronage in 2022. The son was also asked to stop using the title “His Royal Highness” in any official capacity. He renounced his last remaining titles, including that of prince, in 2025 as questions about his private life intensified.
He also agreed to be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor rather than Prince Andrew. Late last year, he agreed to move out of Royal Lodge, the mansion he had lived in on the grounds of Windsor Great Park outside London for more than 20 years, and move to the royal family’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England.
What the Epstein files say about former Prince Andrew
The U.S. Department of Justice has released an additional 3 million documents related to Epstein as part of its investigation into him. Their emails include correspondence, thousands of videos, and tens of thousands of photos.
Several images released in the Epstein dossier show Mountbatten-Windsor in compromising positions, including one crouching on all fours over a woman whose identity has been withheld.
Mountbatten-Windsor denies committing any sexual offences.
Britain’s Thames Valley Police have not released specific details about the former prince’s alleged misconduct in his personal life, which led to his arrest on February 19th. It is not related to the sex crime charges.
Previous reports, including by the BBC, have claimed that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor may have shared confidential government reports relating to investments in Afghanistan and Her Majesty’s Treasury. It was not immediately clear whether that information was shared directly with Epstein or other business associates.
And British police have not confirmed the report.
Separately, Thames Valley Police said they were still looking into another charge against the former prince, that Epstein sent an adult non-British woman to the UK for the purpose of sexual encounters in 2010.
