King Charles has said he will grant police access to all files and records necessary for any investigations into his disgraced brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The former prince was sensationally arrested on Thursday morning on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.
Courtiers fear that releasing these files may reveal a cover-up, The Observer said, but one royal source told the newspaper they would be cooperating ‘fully and wholeheartedly’ with the investigation, as per the King’s statement following his brother’s detention.
The arrest came after Thames Valley Police said it was ‘assessing’ reports that Andrew shared confidential trade reports and investment opportunities to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2010 and 2011 when he was the UK’s special trade envoy in Asia.
The palace declined to comment when asked if the King’s official residence would be searched as part of the investigation, where Andrew had a private office and apartment until 2022.
Despite the King’s push towards transparency, tremors of worry have been sent down the palace corridors. A royal source said there was danger investigators would find out senior figures at Buckingham Palace ‘were aware of what Andrew was doing and covered it up’.
The former prince and paedophile were friends over the course of 15 years. But the source attempted to distance the King and Prince William from potential cover-ups, telling The Observer that it ‘would have been under earlier leadership’, and they would not have been party to such decisions.
Andrew was questioned for 11 hours straight following his arrest and was pictured slumped in a Range Rover attempting to hide from cameras on his way out of Aylsham Police Investigation Centre.
King Charles has said that he will grant police access to all files they need for Andrew investigations, despite courtiers worry of revealing a palace cover-up
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor pictured on the way back from Aylsham Police Investigation Centre following 11 hours of questioning after his arrest on Thursday
Police are now searching his former seven bedroom Windsor residence Royal Lodge. They have scope to widen their investigation if they find any evidence of other offences, Senior criminal defence lawyer Marcus Johnstone said
He was taken from Wood Farm on the royal Sandringham estate in Norfolk where he was placed after he was evicted from his Windsor residence Royal Lodge by King Charles earlier this month.
Police searched Wood Farm and are now searching the seven bedroom mansion Royal Lodge as part of the investigation.
Police now have a wide leeway to broaden their investigation if they find any other crimes when combing the former prince’s files and possessions and will ‘follow the evidence’, The Observer reported.
Senior criminal defence lawyer Marcus Johnstone said that police ‘won’t disregard’ other offences they find while investigating the initial one. He told The Observer: ‘What they find on his devices might lead to more investigative work and more interviews.
‘If they’re looking at one offence and they uncover another, they won’t disregard it.’
He specifically mentioned that if Andrew was found to be embroiled in Epsteins sex-trafficking ring, the police would go after him for it.
The police will go after Andrew if they discover evidence linking him to Epsteins sex trafficking ring, Marcus Johnstone said. In this Epstein file picture, Andrew appears to be leering over a woman on all fours in Epstein’s New York home
Former prince Andrew and his late accuser Virginia Guiffre alongside Ghislaine Maxwell. Ms Guiffre claimed he had sex with her when she was 17, which Andrew denies
Police have widened their investigation to Andrew’s staff and Scotland Yard has asked all royal protection officers who have worked with the disgraced royal to report suspicions of wrongdoing.
Former royal protection officer Paul Page has already alleged that ‘upwards of 40 women’ visited Andrew at Buckingham Palace over the six years he stood guard there between 1998 and 2004.
