Andrew’s royal status should have no bearing on handling of investigationpublished at 13:00 GMT
13:00 GMT
Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent
Thames Valley Police has arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
It follows a series of claims that he allegedly shared official documents, including to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Previously reported allegations included that he had shared reports from trade visits, forwarded a confidential briefing on investment in Afghanistan, and passed a Treasury briefing to a personal business contact.
However, the specifics of this investigation which has led to the arrest have not been made public yet.
Andrew’s royal status should have made no legal difference to how this case is assessed.
Although, it’s worth bearing in mind his actual title was the UK Special Representative for International Trade and Investment – and the Department for Business and Trade has emphasised, in guidance to the BBC, that he was not operating under the rules that now apply to trade envoys.
Andrew has previously denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein; he has not responded to the BBC’s requests for comment on any of the specific allegations in relation to the release of millions of Epstein files in January.