Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the United Kingdom’s former royal, has been released from police custody after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he sent confidential government documents to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Mountbatten-Windsor, who turned 66 on Thursday, had been questioned throughout the day by detectives from Thames Valley Police.

Earlier this month, the police force said it was looking into allegations that he had passed documents to Epstein while working as a trade envoy.

King Charles II said after the arrest that morning that “the law must take its course”.

Police officers were investigating him for several allegations that emerged after US authorities released more than 3 million pages of documents relating ⁠to the disgraced financier Epstein.

Some of those files suggested that Mountbatten-Windsor had, in 2010, forwarded to Epstein reports about Vietnam, Singapore and other places he had visited on ‌official trips as UK trade envoy. In one confidential memo, he sought Epstein’s views on investment opportunities in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said, “Following a thorough assessment, we have now opened an investigation into this allegation of misconduct in public office.

“It is important that we protect the integrity and objectivity of our investigation as we work with our partners to investigate this alleged offence. We understand the significant public interest in this case, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.”

Mountbatten-Windsor should cooperate with the United States authorities in their investigation, the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said. “No one is above the law,” he added. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

As the arrest became public, the family of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre welcomed the news. “At last, today, our broken hearts have been lifted at the news that no one is above the law, not even royalty,” Giuffre’s siblings said in a statement to CBS News. “He was never a prince. For survivors everywhere, Virginia did this for you,” said the family members of Giuffre, who died by suicide last year at age 41.

Giuffre had alleged that she was trafficked by Epstein to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor on three occasions, twice when she was just 17. Her accusations and other documents made public reignited UK anger over his ties to Epstein.

It culminated with the former prince being stripped of his royal titles and honours and announcing that he would be ousted from his mansion on the royal estate at Windsor, west of London. Andrew has always denied that he sexually abused Giuffre.

After she launched a lawsuit against him, he paid her a multimillion-pound settlement in 2022 without making any admission of guilt.

‘Another blow to the monarchy’

“This is such an unprecedented action and move for a prince that was one time the queen’s favourite child, who held a number of high-profile roles within the British establishment, who gradually had this fall from grace because of his association with a convicted pedophile,” said Global News Insight’s Milena Veselinovic, reporting from London. “This is yet another blow to the branding of the monarchy.”

Michael Walker, a political commentator and contributing editor at Novara Media, says the developments are “incredibly damaging” for the UK’s monarchy and establishment, more generally.

“There is an impression that even though Andrew has been pushed out of the royal family, it was always one step behind,” he told Global News Insight.

“There is no impression that the royal family sort of learned about these things and was genuinely morally outraged, so therefore pushed Andrew to the side,” he added.

“It always seems like they are a step behind, there’s a PR disaster and they say, ‘How do we distance ourselves from this man who is an embarrassment’ – as opposed to “How do we sort of bring about consequences for this man who has morally erred.’”

The arrest comes after the royal family last week committed to cooperate with the police on any investigation regarding Mountbatten-Windsor.