Andrew arrested in Epstein probe, first UK royal arrested in centuries – National & International News – THU 19Feb2026

Former Prince Andrew arrested in Epstein probe, first UK royal arrested in centuries

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew of Great Britain, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The alleged misconduct relates to Andrew’s long relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and is tied to recent revelations from the DOJ’s release of the Epstein files. The allegations under investigation relate to e-mails in the Epstein showing that Andrew shared confidential information with the late financier and sex trafficker. The charges could also encompass allegations of related to sex trafficking and sexual misconduct.

Andrew’s brother, King Charles III, has said that the investigation has his “full and wholehearted support and cooperation” and that “the law must take its course”.

First royal arrested in nearly 400 years

While Mountbatten was stripped of his royal titles in October 2025, he is the first senior member of Britain’s royal family to be arrested since 1647. Charles I was arrested that year following 9 years of bloody civil war between forces loyal to the crown and forces loyal to Parliament. The Parliamentarians charged Charles with high treason against the people of the kingdom and its parliament and was beheaded in 1649. The monarchy was not reinstated until 1660 when Charles’ son Charles II came to power.

Since then, Britain’s royals have remained largely untouched by the criminal justice system, even when suspected of grave misconduct. Some historians believe that Edward VIII (who famously abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson) conspired with the Nazis against Britain during WWII. Edward and Simpson both had well-known Nazi sympathies. The Nazis plotted to reinstate Edward as as a puppet king to rule England on the Nazi’s behalf. It is debated whether Edward was aware of this plan or to what extent it was involved. Then-Prime Minister Winston Churchill went to great lengths to bury and destroy all evidence of the plot’s existence to protect the royal family.

Andrew’s arrest today reveals how greatly attitudes towards royalty royal privilege have shifted in the last 70 years in Britain.