- Former British royal Andrew was arrested on misconduct and Epstein-related charges and released under probe
- Allegations surfaced that Andrew may have shared confidential documents with Epstein as UK trade envoy
- Lord Mountbatten, Andrew’s great-uncle, was accused posthumously of abusing boys in Kincora Boys Home scandal
Former British royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held for hours on charges of misconduct while in public office and for his links to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Thames Valley Police, without naming Andrew, said on late Thursday that "the arrested man has now been released under investigation".
The arrest came after new revelations last week indicated that the former royal may have sent Epstein potentially confidential documents while serving as a trade envoy for the UK.
The arrest has now also put the spotlight on Andrew's great-uncle, and India's last Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, who was accused of sexually abusing young boys in the Kincora Boys' Home scandal.
Allegations Against Lord Mountbatten
The last viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, died in 1979 after a bomb planted on his fishing boat exploded in County Sligo, Ireland. However, decades after his death, disturbing allegations surfaced against the former earl.
Arthur Smyth alleged in 2022 that Lord Mountbatten molested him twice in the 1970s while he lived at Kincora Boys' Home. He waived his anonymity to make his allegations against the late earl, as well as the Department of Health, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Secretary of State, the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the Business Services Organisation (BSO).
At Kincore, children allegedly suffered sustained sexual abuse after being taken from the east Belfast children's home to be offered to men. The organisation was run by a member of a Protestant paramilitary organisation, The Guardian reported.
Britain's domestic intelligence agency, MI5, has faced allegations that it was complicit in the matter and blocked police investigations into Kincora to protect its intelligence gathering operations, the outlet stated, citing a statement by Amnesty International.
The Kincora Boys' Home was at the centre of a major sex abuse scandal and closed in the 1980s. In 2017, an inquiry revealed that 39 residents of Kincora were abused at some point during their time at the home, a BBC report revealed. Three members of staff were later jailed for attacks on 11 boys.
Smyth's lawyer, Kevin Winters, told the Irish Times in 2022 that the case was “borne out of anger at systemic state cover-up on abuse at these institutions.” He also called the claims against Lord Mountbatten “central” to the case.
“It's the first time that someone has stepped forward to take allegations against Lord Mountbatten into a court. That decision hasn't been taken lightly,” Winters had said.
In 2025, a book by Belfast-based investigative journalist Chris Moore claimed that Lord Mountbatten was involved in the sexual abuse of five children. The book, Kincora, Britain's Shame, claims that some victims were abused by Mountbatten at his Mullaghmore residence, the Irish Times revealed.
The book suggests some children were trafficked from Kincora to a hotel in Co Fermanagh before members of Mountbatten's security team took them to Mullaghmore, where they were abused.
The outlet also cited files the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had on the Mountabattens, including a report from American writer Elizabeth de la Poer Beresford, who was also known as Baroness Dercies.
Beresford told US authorities that Lord Mountbatten "was known to be a homosexual with a perversion for young boys", the Irish News report said.
What's Next For Andrew?
British monarch, King Charles III, has stated that the investigation will receive the full support of Buckingham Palace, insisting that the law “must take its course.”
