Ex-Prince Andrew Released After Almost 12 Hours

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor spent his 66th birthday being questioned in a police station, then left as a free man—at least for now. The former British prince was arrested Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, becoming the first royal in modern times to be detained by police. Thames Valley Police had raided his current home at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate and searched his former residence, Royal Lodge in Windsor, the Telegraph reports. They said he was released "under investigation," which means their inquiry will continue, reports the New York Times.

Mountbatten-Windsor was questioned for almost 12 hours at Aylsham police station in Norfolk, the Guardian reports. Officers are examining allegations, drawn from the US government's recently released files on Jeffrey Epstein, that he shared confidential government material while serving as a UK trade envoy, including apparent emails forwarding sensitive Treasury and foreign-trip briefings to Epstein and associates in finance. Mountbatten-Windsor was seen leaving the police station in the back of a car, and he "looked dazed, he looked shell-shocked, he was slouching down," Ailsa Anderson, who was press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, tells the BBC.

King Charles III, who was not told of the arrest in advance, issued a rare personal statement saying he had learned of the development with "deepest concern" and stressing that "the law must take its course," adding that the family would continue its public duties and that authorities had their "full and wholehearted support." The maximum sentence for misconduct in public office is life in prison, though Mountbatten-Windsor is likely to face a much shorter sentence if convicted, PBS reports. The AP notes that the last senior royal to be arrested was Charles I, who was convicted of treason and beheaded in 1649.

• President Trump said the arrest was a "shame," the Times reports. "I think it's very sad," he said. "I think it's so bad for the royal family. It's very, very sad. To me, it's a very sad thing."