Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Senior politicians from both major parties have remarked on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s “fall from grace” after his arrest overnight.
British police arrested the former prince at the royal family’s Sandringham Estate over allegations of sharing confidential information with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was released some 10 hours later, with Thames Valley Police saying he was still under investigation for potential misconduct in public office.
“On Thursday we arrested a man in his 60s from Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public office,” it said.
“The arrested man has now been released under investigation.”
Health Minister Mark Butler remarked on Friday that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor had been reduced from a high profile royal to “just a man in his 60s from Norfolk”.
“As the King said, the law must follow its course,” Mr Butler told Seven’s Sunrise.
“There’s not much we can appropriately say about the potential for charges, but … what a fall from grace.
“A man we knew for decades as Prince Andrew, His Royal Highness, is now just a man in his 60s from Norfolk.”
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest was linked to allegations he shared sensitive government information with Epstein, a convicted child sex offender, while serving as trade envoy.
But it came against a backdrop of accusations that he engaged in sexual activity with at least two women trafficked by Epstein. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied these allegations.
The US Department of Justice also a series of unseen photographs of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor previously at Epstein’s properties, including one showing him kneeling over a woman lying on a floor.
“I think all of our thoughts as human beings, not members of government or the opposition, all of our thoughts as human beings go to the girls and the women who were caught up in this hideous network of powerful men that Jeffrey Epstein pulled together, and we’re starting to see some accountability for those awful, awful years,” Mr Butler said.
Appearing opposite Mr Butler, Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume agreed with her Labor counterpart.
Asked if Mr Mountbatten-Windsor should abdicate from the line of succession, she said it was “a conversation for the monarch himself”.
“I’d support Mark’s comments here,” Senator Hume said.
“I think that this is an extremely disturbing fall from grace that we’ve seen from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
“The misconduct in public office is a very serious allegation.
“We should let the full course of the law take its place, but it’s also a reminder that nobody is above the law.”
The misconduct in public office investigation stemmed from files released by the US Department of Justice.
While serving as the UK’s top trade envoy from 2001–2011, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is suspected of using his position to share confidential government documents and sensitive commercial information with Epstein.
The files appear to show emails from 2010 in which Mr Mountbatten-Windsor forwarded official reports from trade missions to Singapore, Vietnam, and Hong Kong.
He is also accused of sharing a confidential brief regarding high-value investment opportunities in the Helmand province of Afghanistan.
