Police urge Andrew’s protection officers to come forward with what they ‘saw or heard’ – live updates

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been released under investigation after police questioned the former prince in relation to allegations he shared confidential material with Jeffrey Epstein.

Officers searched Mountbatten-Windsor’s Sandringham residence as well as his former home at the Royal Lodge in Great Windsor Park after arresting him on Thursday.

The former prince has denied any wrongdoing. But what were the police searching for and what could happen next?

Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s police and crime correspondent, Vikram Dodd…

MPs have called for parliament to consider whether Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should lose his potential right to inherit the throne in the aftermath his arrest.

Andrew was arrested and questioned by detectives on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, in connection with allegations that the former prince shared confidential material with Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew remains eighth in line to the throne after Princes William and Harry and their children, despite him having relinquished his royal titles in October after new information came to light about his links to Epstein, the late financier and child sex offender.

This means Andrew is still a counsellor of state, the group of adult royals who could be named to fill in for King Charles if he was ill or abroad, even if in practice this would never happen for him, as only working royals are used.

The Liberal Democrats called on Friday for the issue to be considered. “The most important thing right now is that the police be allowed to get on with their job, acting without fear or favour,” Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said in a statement.

“But clearly this is an issue that parliament is going to have to consider when the time is right, naturally the Monarchy will want to make sure he can never become king.”

London fashion week was probably the last public place King Charles III wanted to be on Thursday, admiring the suits and costumes that no one he knows would dream of buying, and making light conversation with designers he would have difficulty in recognising at a royal garden party.

Charles must have been contemplating the crumbling of all his plans and hopes for his reign. He always knew it would be short, even before his cancer diagnosis, but he probably never thought it would be upended by the alleged behaviour of his own brother.

Thursday was the most consequential and damaging day for the family firm in centuries, perhaps since the Glorious Revolution of 1688, or the capture of King Charles I in 1647 and his execution two years later. Certainly it is worse than Diana’s death and more threatening than the 1936 abdication crisis, because it undermines the institution itself.

The Andrew crisis has not been over in a week or a fortnight – it just goes on posing questions, not only containable ones limited to Andrew’s apparent behaviour, but wider ones seeping through whole aspects of the monarchy: its money, its privacy, its unaccountability, its character and, crucially, its popularity with the public.

For more than 10 hours after the news broke that detectives had taken the unprecedented step to arrest Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, there was total silence from police and the former royal himself.

Then at 7pm, news that he had been released from a police station in Norfolk emerged, accompanied by a paparazzi-style image of the former prince slumped in the back of a car. The image ricocheted across the world, landing on front pages across the globe.

An assortment of UK headlines on the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Phil Noble is a photojournalist for wire agency Reuters and took the picture that will undoubtedly be talked about and reproduced for years to come. “The photo gods were on my side,” he said on Friday, describing it as “a little bit surreal”.

“It was one of those kind of ‘pinch me’ moments where you look at the back of the camera, you’re tired, it’s been a long day, you know you’ve got him. And then I said to my colleague, ‘can you just double check? Is this him?’ Because you want to make sure. You can’t believe that you’ve got him as well as I did.”

But what does it take to capture a frame like this?

Police contacting former protection officers of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

Detectives have urged Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former close protection officers to “consider carefully whether anything they saw or heard” is relevant to their investigation into paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.

The Metropolitan Police said it was also working with counterparts in the US to establish whether London airports had been used to “facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation”.

In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, the force said:

Following the further release of millions of court documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein by the United States Department of Justice, we are aware of the suggestion that London airports may have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation.

We are assessing this information and are actively seeking further detail from law enforcement partners, including those in the United States.

Separately, the Met is identifying and contacting former and serving officers who may have worked closely, in a protection capacity, with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

They have been asked to consider carefully whether anything they saw or heard during that period of service may be relevant to our ongoing reviews and to share any information that could assist us.

While we are aware of the extensive media reporting and commentary about this matter, as of today, no new criminal allegations have been made to the Met regarding sexual offences said to have occurred within our jurisdiction. We continue to urge anyone with new or relevant information to come forward. All allegations will be taken seriously and, as with any matter, any information received will be assessed and investigated where appropriate.

The action outlined above is independent of investigations or assessment work being carried out by other forces. We are working with the national coordination group which has been set up to bring together affected forces to ensure consistency of approach, including access to appropriate expertise and guidance.

People walking in the Royal Parkland at Sandringham have said news of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest was “stomach-churning”.

A dog walker, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the Press Association on Friday morning she expected members of the royal family to “be honourable”.

“I think the more you have that the ordinary people don’t get, the more money or privilege, the more you’ve got to have wisdom.

“There’s an onus and a duty, and you expect them to honour them, to be honourable, and so when you hear things like that about a member of the royal family, it’s stomach-churning.

Recalling the reign of Andrew’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, she added: “There isn’t the same deference anymore.”

The Princess Royal continued with her engagements on Friday with a visit to a crisp factory in Sheffield.

Anne did not respond when a reporter shouted: “Afternoon your royal highness, how do you feel about your brother’s arrest?” as she arrived at Yorkshire Crisps, in the south of the city.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s older sister arrived in pouring rain with police outriders in a blue Range Rover, and was escorted the two metres into the building by a man holding a see-through umbrella.

Here are some photos from the Royal Lodge, the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, in Berkshire today.

As you can see, there has been some vehicles coming and going, as well as a steady patrol of police officers.

Eddy Frankel

They say the camera adds 10 pounds. Does it also add a sudden, terrifying understanding of the abject horror of existence? Phil Noble’s apparently does. The Reuters photographer’s shot of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor leaving Aylsham police station in the back of his Range Rover is an image filled with shock, pain and horror. Noble’s harsh, blinding flash paints Andrew in pink, red and white – his skin is sickly, his eyes are hollow and red like a rat’s. His hands are steepled as if in prayer, like he’s pleading with a higher power for absolution.

Much like the eerily similar 2019 picture of his father, Prince Philip, in a car, this photograph’s composition is one of pure luck. Noble took shots as Mountbatten-Windsor rushed past. Two were blank, two were of the police, one was out of focus. Only this one came out right. Only this one gave us a private glimpse of power crumbling and rotting away in real time.

In the social media and cameraphone age, it’s harder than ever for a single image to stand out, to rise above the visual noise we are bombarded with. That this one has somehow done so shows how important and powerful it is. Whatever precise crimes Mountbatten-Windsor is or isn’t guilty of, in one incredibly fortuitous photo Noble has captured the visceral anguish of having to live with what you’ve done, and contend with its repercussions.

It’s the eyes that do it. They suck you into the photo’s abyss: Mountbatten-Windsor is aghast, stupefied, frozen in wide-eyed dismay and distress. Those red eyes, like two little portals to hell, are not angry or vicious: they are dazed and overwhelmed. They’re the same eyes you see in the anguished howler of Edvard Munch’s The Scream or Gustave Courbet’s Desperate Man.

Summary of developments so far

Police said they are continuing their search of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former residence in Berkshire. He was released from custody after being held by police for more than 10 hours. He has not been charged with any offence.

Police have concluded searches at Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, where he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Calls are growing for Mountbatten-Windsor to be removed from the line of succession for the throne. He is currently eighth in line but some MPs have suggested he should be removed or give up his place, with one Tory minister saying it would be “the decent thing” to do.

A photograph of the royal emerging from a police station was splashed on newspapers around the world. Phil Noble, the Manchester-based Reuters photographer who captured the photo last night, said: “When you’re doing car shots it’s more luck than judgment.”

The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest as an “extraordinary fall from grace” but says it won’t prompt another referendum on Australia becoming a republic. In his first comments about the arrest, Albanese told the Guardian’s Australian Politics podcast that referendums “are hard to pass” in his country.

Andrew arrest does not signify there will be justice for trafficking victims, says top US lawyer

A lawyer working for some of Jeffrey Epstein’s victims has said she does not believe there will be “any real justice” for those trafficked and abused by him and his high-profile associates, despite the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Gloria Allred, a women’s rights lawyer for 50 years, said although the UK had acted quickly on the allegation that the former prince had shared confidential documents with the disgraced financier while he was a trade envoy, there did not appear to be as much movement on sexual assault allegations against him.

“Apparently allegations concerning the state trade secrets and/or allegations of financial crimes are given priority and quick action, while allegations of rape and child sexual abuse and sex trafficking take many years to investigate and do not result in arrests and accountability for victims who are women and girls,” she said.

Read the full report here:

Calls grow for Mountbatten-Windsor to be removed from royal line of succession following arrest

The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has led to calls for him to be removed from the line of succession for the throne.

As second son to the queen, the former prince was behind only his brother Charles in line for the throne when he was born in 1960.

However, he has since fallen well down the pecking order to eighth, behind Princess Lilibet, the Duke of Sussex’s daughter. It would take some extremely unlikely circumstances for him to ascend to become king.

But now Mountbatten-Windsor is facing calls for him to be removed from the line of succession altogether.

Andrew Bowie, the shadow Scotland secretary, told GB News:

I think it would be the decent thing. Of course, if he’s found guilty of this, I think parliament would be well within its rights to act to remove him from the line of succession.

But, let’s remember, he’s not been found guilty of anything just yet – he has yet to be charged with anything. So we have to let the police investigation run its course, and I think we should all act accordingly subsequent to that.

SNP leader Stephen Flynn also backed the move, telling the Sun:

The public will be rightly angry that a man who lied about being mates with Epstein could still be on course to be head of state.

His status in the royal line of succession should be considered, said Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat leader, without explicitly calling for him to be removed immediately.

Davey said in a statement:

The most important thing right now is that the police be allowed to get on with their job, acting without fear or favour. But clearly this is an issue that parliament is going to have to consider when the time is right, naturally the monarchy will want to make sure he can never become king.

It comes as YouGov published polling today which showed 82% of Britons now believe Mountbatten‑Windsor should be removed from the royal line of succession entirely. Just 6% of respondents said he should remain.