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Former British prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of King Charles of the United Kingdom, was released by police on Thursday after being arrested and held for several hours on suspicion of abuse of public office, in connection with his relationship with American financier Jeffrey Epstein, convicted of sex crimes and now deceased.
Mountbatten-Windsor, who turned 66 on the day of his arrest, is believed to be the first member of the British royal family in more than 350 years to be arrested and held in custody. The last such case dates back to 1647, when King Charles I was arrested by parliamentary forces and tried for high treason.
Last year he was stripped of his princely title due to his links to Epstein and allegations that the two had sexually abused Virginia Giuffre when she was a teenager in the 1990s. Epstein died in 2019 in a prison in the United States, awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
In 2021, Giuffre sued Mountbatten-Windsor for sexual assault, claiming he forced her to have sex with him on several occasions when she was 17. The case was settled out of court. Giuffre died last year.
While still a prince, Mountbatten-Windsor served as the UK's special envoy for trade from 2001 to 2011. He resigned as the controversy over his links to Epstein intensified. His tenure was marred by criticism over his public image and official travel expenses.
His case brings to light a series of scandals that have affected the British monarchy in recent decades.
In 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, causing an institutional crisis.
In 1992, Queen Elizabeth II described the year as an "annus horribilis" due to the failure of the marriages of three of her children. Prince Charles and Princess Diana separated, as did Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, while Princess Anne divorced. That same year, the publication of a telephone conversation between Diana and her friend James Gilbey, known as "Squidgygate", sparked widespread public debate. The following year, another telephone recording between Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, dubbed "Camillagate", confirmed their extramarital affair.
In 1995, Diana's interview with BBC Panorama exposed tensions within the royal family. An independent investigation later found that the journalist had used false documents to secure the interview. Princess Diana died in 1997 in a car crash in Paris while being pursued by paparazzi, an event that sparked a strong public outcry and criticism of the royal family for its initial response.
In 2002, Princess Anne was found guilty after her dog attacked two children, becoming the first active member of the royal family in modern times with a criminal record.
In 2005, Prince Harry publicly apologized after being photographed wearing a Nazi costume at a party. In 2020, he and his wife Meghan Markle announced their departure from royal duties, a decision known as “Megxit.” In a 2021 interview, the couple spoke about tensions within the family and their treatment in the media.
In 2023, Harry published a memoir titled "Spare," in which he described in detail his family relationships and his military experience in Afghanistan.
The recent developments involving Mountbatten-Windsor add a new chapter to a long history of controversies that have affected the reputation of the British monarchy.
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