Police on Friday continued to search the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former British prince, in Windsor Great Park, a day after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office following revelations in the Epstein files.
Television news reports showed unmarked police vehicles arriving at Royal Lodge before 8am to continue the investigations that began early on Thursday.
Thames Valley Police indicated late on Thursday that work would continue at the Windsor site. It said it had finished searches at Mountbatten-Windsor’s current home on the royal family’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where he was arrested on Thursday morning.
The police force on Friday said it had nothing further to say about how long it expected to be present at Royal Lodge or any next steps in the investigation.
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Broadcasters on Thursday evening showed pictures of Mountbatten-Windsor being driven out of Aylsham Police Investigation Centre, north of Norwich, after nearly 11 hours of questioning following his arrest.
Although they did not name him, Thames Valley Police confirmed that “a man in his sixties” had been released under investigation after being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Mountbatten-Windsor has made no statement of any kind since October, although he has consistently denied any wrongdoing, either sexually or in his business affairs.
Britain’s king Charles, his brother, said in a statement on Thursday: “Let the law take its course.”
Mountbatten-Windsor moved out of Royal Lodge to Sandringham earlier this month. His 75-year, rent-free lease over the Windsor property was terminated last year amid earlier revelations about his links to Epstein. Royal Lodge belongs to the public-sector Crown Estate, while Sandringham is part of the royal family’s private property.
Alongside the misconduct investigation, Thames Valley Police said earlier this month that it was assessing information from a US lawyer representing a woman who claimed that she was trafficked in 2010 to Windsor “for sexual purposes”.
Multiple UK police forces are assessing information from the Epstein files, including information about possible trafficking of women on private jets through UK airports.
Mountbatten-Windsor was a special representative for UK trade and investment from 2001 until 2011, when he stepped down amid controversy over his links to Epstein, who had been convicted of soliciting sex from a minor in 2008. Epstein was found dead in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on further sex-trafficking charges.
The millions of files released by the US department of justice following its investigation into Epstein show that Mountbatten-Windsor worked closely with Epstein and his associates in a number of fields, regularly sharing information and business ideas.
The files suggested that during a state visit to the United Arab Emirates with his mother, the late queen Elizabeth, Mountbatten-Windsor lobbied for Epstein to the country’s foreign minister. They also showed he shared some confidential information provided to him in his role as trade representative. - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
