Police search former Prince Andrew’s home a day after his arrest

LONDON — Police searched the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor again on Friday, a day after he was arrested and held in custody for nearly 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in having shared confidential trade information with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In another blow for the former Prince Andrew, the British government is considering formally removing him from the line of succession to the crown. Despite losing his status as prince and facing a police investigation, Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne. That can only be changed with new legislation.

When the king stripped his brother of his titles in the fall, the government said passing a new law would not be a good use of Parliament’s time.

• How former Prince Andrew’s Epstein ties became his undoing
• Read the police statement in full

But that view has changed and the government is now considering legislation once the police investigation is finished. James Murray, the government’s chief secretary to the treasury, said “the government is considering any further steps that might be required, and we’re not ruling anything out.”

The last time a royal was removed from the line of succession was after the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, when the law was changed to strike him and any descendants from the list.

Removing Andrew would also require agreement from more than a dozen other countries, including Jamaica, Canada and Australia, that have the British monarch as head of state.

Following one of the most tumultuous days in the modern history of Britain’s Royal Family, the former prince was back at his new residence on the Sandringham estate, King Charles III ‘s private retreat, around 115 miles (185 kilometres) northeast of London.

Police have concluded their search there, but are still searching Royal Lodge, his 30-room former home in the parkland near Windsor Castle, just west of the capital, where the king’s younger brother had lived for decades until his eviction earlier this month. Unmarked vans, believed to be police vehicles, have been entering the grounds Friday morning.

The search is expected to continue for several days.

Mountbatten-Windsor, who was pictured slouched in the back of his chauffeur-driven car following his release Thursday evening from a police station near Sandringham, remains under investigation, which means he has neither been charged nor exonerated by Thames Valley Police, the force responsible for areas west of London.

Arrest was years in the making

His arrest follows years of allegations over his links with Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019.

The accusation at the heart of his arrest is that Mountbatten-Windsor — who was known as Prince Andrew until October when his brother stripped him of his titles and honors and banished him from Royal Lodge — shared confidential trade information with the disgraced financier when he was a trade envoy for the U.K.

Emails released last month by the U.S. Department of Justice appeared to show Mountbatten-Windsor sharing reports of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore, and sending Epstein a confidential brief on investment opportunities in Afghanistan.

Thames Valley Police has previously said it was also reviewing allegations that a woman was trafficked to the U.K. by Epstein to have a sexual encounter with Andrew. Thursday’s arrest had nothing to do with that.

Other police forces are also conducting their own investigations into Epstein’s links to the U.K., including the assessment of flight logs at airports, large and small. They are coordinating their work within a national group.

On Friday, London’s Metropolitan Police said it was assessing, with the help of U.S. counterparts, whether the capital’s airports, which include Heathrow, “may have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation.”

It also said that it’s asking past and present officers who protected Mountbatten-Windsor to “consider carefully” whether they saw or heard anything that may be relevant to the investigations.

As of now, it said no new criminal allegations have been made regarding sexual offenses within its jurisdiction.

Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his association with Epstein but has not commented on the most recent allegations that have emerged with the release of the so-called Epstein files.

Arrest was sudden, investigation will take time

Police swept into the grounds of Mountbatten-Windsor’s home to arrest him at 8 a.m. Thursday — his 66th birthday — before taking him to Aylsham police station for questioning.

It’s not known what he told them. He may have said nothing, or “no comment,” as is his right.

Experts said that misconduct in a public office is notoriously difficult to prove.

“Firstly, it must be determined if Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was in a role within government that constitutes the title of public officer,” said Sean Caulfield, a criminal defense lawyer at Hodge Jones & Allen. “There is no standard definition to clearly draw on.”

The Crown Prosecution Service will ultimately make a decision about charging Mountbatten-Windsor.

Andrew Gilmore, a partner at Grosvenor Law, said that prosecutors will apply the two-stage test known as the “Code for Crown Prosecutors.”

“That test is to determine whether there is a more realistic prospect of a conviction than not based on the evidence and whether the matter is in the public interest,” he said. “If these two tests are met, then the matter will be charged and proceed to court.”

Arrest is not just unusual, it’s historic

Mountbatten-Windsor was the first royal since King Charles I nearly four centuries ago to be placed under arrest. That turned into a seismic moment in British history, leading Charles’ beheading and the temporary abolition of the monarchy.

Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest is arguably one of the gravest crises for the House of Windsor since its establishment more than 100 years ago. Arguably, only the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936, and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997, have been as grave for the institution of the British monarchy in modern times.

In a statement Thursday, the king said the “law must take its course,’’ but that as ”this process continues, it would not be right for me to comment further on this matter."

The allegations are not related to Epstein’s sex trafficking

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

Still, Giuffre’s sister-in-law Amanda Roberts said that she was overjoyed when she got a phone call at 3 a.m. telling her the news of the arrest. But those feelings of elation were quickly complicated by the realization that she couldn’t share the feelings of “vindication” with Giuffre.

“We can’t tell her how much we love her, and that everything that she was doing is not in vain,” Roberts added tearfully.

Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless contributed to this story.

Pan Pylas, The Associated Press