King Charles's brother Andrew arrested on sexual abuse charges

Prince Andrew, brother of King Charles III of Britain, was arrested by plainclothes police officers at his home in Sandringham at around 8:00 AM on Thursday, his 66th birthday. He was arrested on suspicion of irregularities and misconduct committed while holding public office, and this is considered the first instance of a member of the royal family being arrested in modern British history.

This arrest is primarily influenced by the serious sexual abuse allegations made by Virginia Giuffre in connection with the notorious Jeffrey Epstein abuse case. Virginia alleged that Andrew sexually abused her in 2001 when she was 17 years old, but he had denied all those allegations. However, Virginia Giuffre died in April 2025 in what is suspected to be a suicide. A few days before her death, she had been in an accident and had posted a note on her Instagram account stating that she would not live much longer.

According to the law, while a suspect is usually detained for 12 or 24 hours, with the permission of senior police officers and the court, Andrew can be held in police custody for a maximum of 96 hours. He can be held in a police cell, and the police also have the authority to inspect his property, including his computers, files, and houses belonging to him. Under English law, deliberate misconduct committed while holding public office is considered a serious crime, and if proven, the maximum penalty could be life imprisonment. This incident is believed to be related to the period from 2001, when he served as Britain's trade representative for 10 years.

King Charles, who has expressed deep concern over his brother's arrest, stated that the law should be allowed to take its course and that the relevant authorities would conduct a comprehensive and impartial investigation. He refrained from further comment on the matter as investigations are ongoing. Concurrently, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also emphasized that no one is above the law and that anyone with information should provide evidence.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Justice has released five controversial photographs and information related to Andrew and Epstein. These include a photo of Andrew with his arm around 17-year-old Virginia's waist at Ghislaine Maxwell's home in London on March 10, 2001; a photo released in December 2025 showing Epstein lying on the laps of five women; and photos released on January 30 depicting Andrew kneeling on a woman, touching a girl lying on the floor, and touching a girl's abdomen. Furthermore, email messages from 2010 and 2011 released by the Department of Justice have revealed that he sent photos of his daughters to Epstein in 2008.

Due to this series of events, he was forced to step down from all royal duties in 2019, and last October, King Charles stripped him of his 'Prince' title and all other royal honors, including 'Duke of York'. He was also ordered to vacate his luxurious 'Royal Lodge' home in Windsor, and he is now referred to as 'Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor'. However, despite losing his royal titles, he still remains eighth in the line of succession to the British Crown. The 65-year-old also served as a British naval officer during the Falklands War with Argentina in the 1980s.

Virginia Giuffre's memoir, 'No Bodies Girl', was published on October 21 last year, before her death. She was caught in this network at the age of 15, and when she first went to meet Andrew, Epstein's girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, told her, "Cinderella, you are going to meet a handsome prince." Upon seeing her, Andrew correctly guessed her age was 17 and stated that his daughters were slightly younger than her. In the book, she mentioned that Andrew had sexual encounters with her three times: at Maxwell's home in London, at Epstein's home in New York, and on Epstein's Caribbean island, and that on the third occasion, there were 8 other underage girls present. She further stated that Andrew believed having sex with her was his birthright. Virginia, who exposed Epstein's network in 2011, later moved to Australia and worked as a lawyer for women who had experienced sexual abuse.

Based on these abuse allegations, Virginia filed a lawsuit against Andrew in 2021, which the parties later agreed to settle for approximately 12 million British Pounds (about 125 crore Sri Lankan Rupees). Despite settling the case for such a large sum, Andrew consistently maintained that he had committed no wrongdoing. In addition to the Epstein incident, he has previously been involved in various controversies regarding his connections with a Chinese spy and financial irregularities.