British police arrest former Prince Andrew on suspicion of links to Epstein.
The BBC reported on Thursday that former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of Britain's King Charles III, was arrested on suspicion of abusing his position, as part of an ongoing investigation into Andrew sharing confidential information with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The former prince was arrested on his 66th birthday, and the Daily Telegraph reported earlier that six police cars arrived at his home in Sandringham, eastern England. Earlier, the BBC reported that former Prince Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct while serving as Britain's trade envoy to the United States. Thames Valley Police said in a statement that they "arrested a man in his 60s from Norfolk County on suspicion of misconduct in public office and are conducting searches within Berkshire and Norfolk." The police did not name the suspect, as is customary in British law, but the details in the police report are consistent with what is known about allegations of public misconduct. Although Andrew's links to convicted sex offender Epstein have been known for years and led to him being stripped of his royal titles last year, the investigation opens a new chapter in the decline of his public reputation. After new documents about Epstein and Andrew's relationship were published in the first week of February, the royal family broke their silence, with King Charles and his son William expressing their concern and the King's willingness to assist the investigation. A statement from the palace last week said the king, who last October took the historic step of stripping his brother of his royal titles and forcing him to leave his residence at Windsor, "expressed his deep concern about the allegations that continue to unfold regarding Mr. Andrew's conduct." The statement added: "While Mr. Andrew specifically bears the responsibility of responding to these allegations, we are fully prepared to support Thames Valley Police should they contact us." With this announcement, the king appeared to be increasing the pressure on Andrew to testify before the police. Police previously announced that they were "examining" information indicating that Andrew handed over sensitive reports to Jeffrey Epstein in 2010 when he was a trade envoy for his country. This information was obtained from newly released emails that recently surfaced among the millions of documents taken from Epstein's files that were released by the U.S. Department of Justice in late January. Prince William has broken his silence on the Epstein affair and its implications for his uncle. A statement issued earlier by Kensington Palace said that Prince William and his wife Kate were "deeply concerned" about the contents of the documents. The simultaneous stances of Charles and William are consistent with the advice of a number of royal experts who have made statements in recent days,
urging the king to "distance himself further" from Andrew and adopt a "moral stance" in the best interests of his reign and the monarchy. A statement from Buckingham Palace emphasized "sympathy for all victims of attacks of all kinds."
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