THE police inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is "likely to" widen beyond the offence of misconduct in public office, as the “high legal bar” risks stalling the investigation.
The police are reportedly considering wider charges against former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as the “high legal bar” for misconduct “risks” stalling the investigation, The Times has revealed.
Mountbatten-Windsor is set to be investigated over other potential corruption offences on top of an inquiry into alleged sex trafficking, police sources told The Times.
He was arrested last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office relating to his time as a government trade envoy, when he allegedly passed confidential information to late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
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Detectives at Thames Valley police are now understood to be widening the investigation as Mountbatten-Windsor has denied all wrongdoing.
A police source told The Times: “There was always an issue over whether he was actually a public official at the time, whether he actually signed any papers.
“It’s not surprising that they are having to look at broader offences.”
Any further police interviews are expected to be by appointment, and any charging decisions are expected to take the best part of a year.
According to emails in the Epstein files, a massive cache of information released by the US Department of Justice, the former prince appeared to have forwarded official reports of trips to Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam in 2010 and 2011.
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The Metropolitan Police previously looked at allegations of sex trafficking by Epstein and interviewed Virginia Giuffre, who accused Andrew of sexually assaulting her on three separate occasions when she was 17.
The police decided not to open a full investigation. Andrew has denied wrongdoing and said he did not remember meeting Giuffre who died by suicide last year.
However, he paid a £12 million settlement to her in 2022.
The new information is the latest escalation since a picture of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein was unearthed.
Peter Mandelson was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office on February 23, after the Epstein Files suggested that Mandelson had sent Epstein sensitive government information, including about Gordon Brown resigning as prime minister, about a deal to bail out the Euro, about secret UK government plans to sell off assets, and about a tax on bankers’ bonuses.
He has denied any “wrongdoing or misdemeanour”.
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