Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor turned 66 on Thursday. He spent most of it in a police station.
Thames Valley Police arrested the former Prince Andrew at around 8 a.m. at his temporary home on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. They held him for roughly 11 hours. By evening, he was slouched in the back of a car leaving Aylsham Police Station, looking every bit as wrecked as you would expect.
He was not charged. He did not post bail. There was no bail to post.
That last point keeps tripping people up. TheTimes and Starexplained that under English law, beingreleased under investigationis not the same as being released on bail. No conditions. No passport surrender, no curfew. He simply walked out. The Crown Prosecution Service will decide, in its own time, whether charges follow.
The charge hanging over him is misconduct in public office. It relates to his decade as Britain's special trade envoy, a role that gave him access to sensitive government briefings.
Emails released by the US Department of Justice as part of the Epstein files appeared to show Mountbatten-Windsor forwarding those briefings directly to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. One, covering official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore, was apparently sent five minutes after he received it. Another contained a confidential assessment of investment opportunities in Afghanistan's Helmand Province,according to PBS News.
Thames Valley Police had said earlier this month that it was assessing the reports. Nobody quite expected them to move this fast.
Unmarked vehicles turned up at Wood Farm before dawn. Officers also searched Royal Lodge in Berkshire, the 30-room mansion Andrew occupied until recently. Norfolk searches wrapped up by nightfall. Berkshire was still underway on Friday.
Misconduct in public office technically carries amaximum sentence of life imprisonment. In practice, legal experts say a far shorter term would be realistic,ITV Newsrevealed.
Getting there is another matter entirely. Prosecutors must prove the accused wilfully abused or neglected the responsibilities of their office, and that the conduct was serious enough to warrant criminal sanction. Notoriously hard to make stick. There is no deadline for the CPS to reach a decision.
Source: International Business Times UK
