Former Prince Andrew arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over ties to Epstein

LONDON (AP) — The former Prince Andrew was arrested by British police Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to Jeffrey Epstein, an extraordinary move in a country where authorities once sought to shield the royal family from embarrassment.

It was the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal was placed under arrest, and it underscored how deference to the monarchy has eroded in recent years.

King Charles III, whose late mother lived by the motto “never complain, never explain,” took the unusual step of issuing a statement on the arrest of his brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,’’ the king said. “As this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter.’’

The Thames Valley Police force, which covers areas west of London, including Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home, said Thursday that a man in his 60s, who is from Norfolk in eastern England, had been arrested and was in custody. Police did not identify the suspect, in line with standard procedures in Britain.

Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, moved to the king’s private estate in Norfolk after he was evicted from his longtime home near Windsor Castle earlier this month.

Police previously said they were “assessing” reports that Mountbatten-Windsor sent trade information to Epstein, a wealthy investor and convicted sex offender, in 2010, when the former prince was Britain’s special envoy for international trade. Correspondence between the two men was released by the U.S. Justice Department late last month along with millions of pages of documents from the American investigation into Epstein.

“Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office,’’ Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said in a statement.

“We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time,” he added.

Police also said they were searching two properties.

Earlier in the day, pictures circulated online that appeared to show unmarked police cars at Wood Farm, Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, with plainclothes officers gathering outside.

Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his association with Epstein.

The allegations being investigated Thursday are separate from those made by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have sex with Andrew in 2001, when she was just 17. Giuffre died by suicide last year.

Still, Giuffre’s family praised the arrest, saying that their “broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty.”

The family added: “He was never a prince. For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you.”

“This is the most spectacular fall from grace for a member of the royal family in modern times,” said Craig Prescott, a royal expert at Royal Holloway, University of London, who compared it in severity to the crisis sparked by Edward VIII’s abdication to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

“And it may not be over yet,’’ Prescott added.

Thursday’s arrest came a day after the National Police Chiefs’ Council said it had created a coordination group to assist forces across the U.K. that are assessing whether Epstein and his associates committed crimes in Britain. In addition to the concerns about Mountbatten-Windsor ’s correspondence, documents released by the U.S. suggest Epstein may have used his private jet to traffic women to and from Britain.

The documents also rocked British politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had to fight off questions about his judgment after the papers revealed that Peter Mandelson, the man he appointed ambassador to the U.S., had a longer and closer relationship with Epstein than was previously disclosed.

London’s Metropolitan Police Service has said it is investigating allegations of misconduct in public office related to Mandelson’s own correspondence with Epstein. Mandelson was fired as ambassador to the U.S. in September.

But it is Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Epstein that brought the scandal to the doors of Buckingham Palace and threatened to undermine support for the monarchy.

The last time a senior British royal was arrested was almost 400 years ago during the reign of King Charles I that saw a growing power struggle between the crown and Parliament.

After the king attempted to arrest lawmakers in the House of Commons in 1642, hostilities erupted into the English Civil War, which ended with victory for the parliamentary forces of Oliver Cromwell.

Charles I was arrested, tried, convicted of high treason and beheaded in 1649.

Modern concerns about Mountbatten-Windsor’s links to Epstein have dogged the royal family for more than a decade.

The late Queen Elizabeth II forced her second son to give up royal duties and end his charitable work in 2019 after he tried to explain away his friendship with Epstein during a catastrophic interview with the BBC.

But as concern mounted about what the Epstein files might reveal, the king moved aggressively to insulate the royal family from the fallout.

Since October, Charles has stripped his younger brother of the right to be called prince, forced him to move out of the royal estate he occupied for more than 20 years and issued a public statement supporting the women and girls abused by Epstein.

Last week, the palace said it was ready to cooperate with police investigating Mountbatten-Windsor.

Charles was forced to act after Mountbatten-Windsor’s correspondence with Epstein torpedoed the former prince’s claims that he severed ties with the financier after Epstein's 2008 conviction for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Instead, emails between the two men show Epstein offering to arrange a date between Mountbatten-Windsor and a young Russian woman in 2010, and the then-prince inviting Epstein to dinner at Buckingham Palace.

Additional correspondence appears to show Mountbatten-Windsor sending Epstein reports from a two-week tour of Southeast Asia that he undertook in 2010 as Britain’s trade envoy.

Danny Shaw, an expert on law enforcement in the U.K., told the BBC that in most cases, suspects are held between 12 and 24 hours and are then either charged or released pending further investigation.

The absolute longest the former prince can be held for is 96 hours — but that would require multiple extensions from senior police officers and a Magistrate’s Court. It was unclear what time Andrew was arrested.

Andrew will be placed in “a cell in a custody suite” with just “a bed and a toilet,” where he will wait until his police interview.

“There’ll be no special treatment for him,″ Shaw said.

Soldiers exercise at Buckingham Palace in London, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been arrested by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Reporters stand in front of Buckingham Palace in London, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A Police officer guards the entrance to Wood Farm at the Sandringham Royal Estate in Sandringham, England, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

FILE - Prince Andrew leaves St. Giles Cathedral after the arrival of the coffin containing the remains of his mother Queen Elizabeth, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

FILE - Britain's Prince Andrew, center, and his daughters Princess Eugenie, left, and Princess Beatrice leave Westminster Abbey after the wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton, in London, April 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Gero Breloer, File)

FILE - Prince Andrew leaves after attending the Christmas day service at St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham in Norfolk, England, Dec. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

FILE - Britain's Prince Andrew, greets a business leader during a reception at the sideline of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool, File)

FILE - A document showing an email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, and who Epstein referred to as "The Duke," that was in a U.S. Department of Justice release, is photographed Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)

FILE - Britain's Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, looks round as he leaves after attending the Easter Matins Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)

FILE - Then-Britain's Prince Andrew, left, and Britain's King Charles III leave after the Requiem Mass service for the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral in London, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran held annual military drills with Russia on Thursday as a second American aircraft carrier drew closer to the Middle East, with both the United States and Iran signaling they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran's nuclear program fizzle out.

President Donald Trump has said he hopes to reach a deal with Iran, but the talks have been deadlocked for years, and Iran has refused to discuss wider U.S. and Israeli demands that it scale back its missile program and sever ties to armed groups. Indirect talks held in recent weeks made little visible progress, and one or both sides could be buying time for final war preparations.

Iran’s theocracy is more vulnerable than ever, following 12 days of Israeli and U.S. strikes on its nuclear sites and military last year, as well as mass protests in January that were violently suppressed. But it is still capable of striking Israel and U.S. bases in the region, and has warned that any attack would trigger a regional war.

Iran earlier this week launched a drill that involved live-fire in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow opening of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world's traded oil passes.

Tensions are also rising inside Iran, as mourners hold ceremonies honoring slain protesters 40 days after their killing by security forces. Some gatherings have seen anti-government chants despite threats from authorities.

The movements of additional American warships and airplanes, with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea, don't guarantee a U.S. strike on Iran — but it bolsters Trump's ability to carry out one should he choose to do so.

He has so far held off on striking Iran after setting red lines over the killing of peaceful protesters and mass executions, while reengaging in nuclear talks that were disrupted by the war in June.

Iran has agreed to draw up a written proposal to address U.S. concerns raised during this week’s indirect nuclear talks in Geneva, according to a senior U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The official said top national security officials gathered Wednesday to discuss Iran, and were briefed that the “full forces” needed to carry out potential military action are expected to be in place by mid-March. The official did not provide a timeline for when Iran is expected to deliver its written response.

“It’s proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise bad things happen,” Trump said Thursday.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged his nation's citizens to immediately leave Iran as “within a few, a dozen, or even a few dozen hours, the possibility of evacuation will be out of the question.” He did not elaborate, and the Polish Embassy in Tehran did not appear to be drawing down its staff.

The German military said that it had moved “a mid-two digit number of non-mission critical personnel” out of a base in northern Iraq because of the current situation in the region and in line with its partners’ actions. It said that some troops remain to help keep the multinational camp running in Irbil, where they train Iraqi forces.

“This week, another 50 U.S. combat aircraft — F-35s, F-22s, and F-16s — were ordered to the region, supplementing the hundreds deployed to bases in the Arab Gulf states,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank wrote. “The deployments reinforce Trump’s threat — restated on a nearly daily basis — to proceed with a major air and missile campaign on the regime if talks fail.”

Iranian forces and Russian sailors conducted the annual drills in the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean aimed at “upgrading operational coordination as well as exchange of military experiences,” Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Footage later released by Iran showed members of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's naval special forces board a vessel in the exercise. Those forces are believed to have been used in the past to seize vessels in key international waterways.

Iran also issued a rocket-fire warning to pilots in the region, suggesting it planned to launch anti-ship missiles in the exercise.

Meanwhile, tracking data showed the Ford off the coast of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean midday Wednesday, meaning the carrier could transit through Gibraltar and potentially station in the eastern Mediterranean with its supporting guided-missile destroyers.

Once it arrives in the region, it would be able to help protect Israel and Jordan if war breaks out. The U.S. used similar assets to protect Israel during recent confrontations linked to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Israel is making its own preparations for possible Iranian missile strikes in response to any U.S. action.

“We are prepared for any scenario,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday, adding that if Iran attacks Israel, “they will experience a response they cannot even imagine.”

Netanyahu, who met with Trump last week, long has pushed for tougher U.S. action against Iran and says any deal should not only end its nuclear program but curb its missile arsenal and force it to cut ties with militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran has said the current talks should only focus on its nuclear program, and that it hasn't been enriching uranium since the U.S. and Israeli strikes last summer. Trump said at the time that the strikes had “obliterated” Iran's nuclear sites, but the exact damage is unknown as Tehran has barred international inspectors.

Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, while the U.S. and others suspect it is aimed at eventually developing weapons. Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons but has neither confirmed nor denied that.

Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran; Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Poland; Geir Moulson in Berlin; and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

People pray at the graves of Iranian soldiers who were killed during 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaks during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and Iran, in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

In this image provided by Sepahnews of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on Feb. 16, 2026, shows troops standing at attention during the guard's drill in the Persian Gulf on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (Sepahnews via AP)

This image provided Thursday Feb. 19, 2026 by the Iranian military and dated Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2025, shows navy ships conducting operations during a join drill by Iranian and Russian forces in the Indian Ocean. (Masoud Nazari Mehrabi/Iranian Army via AP)

This image provided Thursday Feb. 19, 2026 by the Iranian military and dand dated Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2025, shows navy ships conducting operations during a join drill by Iranian and Russian forces in the Indian Ocean.(Masoud Nazari Mehrabi/Iranian Army via AP)

This image provided Thursday Feb. 19, 2026 by the Iranian military and dated Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2025, shows navy ships conducting operations during a join drill by Iranian and Russian forces in the Indian Ocean.(Masoud Nazari Mehrabi/Iranian Army via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a joint news conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

FILE - In this photo provided by the U.S. Navy, the USS Gerald R. Ford embarked on the first of its sea trials to test various state-of-the-art systems on its own power for the first time, April 8, 2017, from Newport News, Va. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ridge Leoni/U.S. Navy via AP, File)