Specialist police officers will carry out fingertip searches of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former home after the former prince was interviewed for 11 hours on his 66th birthday
Police have launched two new probes into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as officers prepared to spend the weekend taking the former prince’s home to pieces.
Andrew was released under investigation on Thursday night after being arrested on his 66th birthday and interviewed for 11 hours on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.
Fingertip searches taking place at Andrew’s former 30-room Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor and will continue until Monday, Thames Valley Police said.
The Mirror can reveal dozens of specialist uniformed officers are expected to take part, in the wake of his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
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In a fresh humiliation, Andrew is likely to be stripped of his position as eighth in line to the throne under government plans to seal his exit from the Royal Family.
Downing Street will consult with other Commonwealth realms before any change can be made, which would also require an Act of Parliament, following the conclusion of various police investigations into his conduct. Each other country where Charles III is King – like Australia and Canada – would have to agree to legislation to remove him.
In another day of dramatic developments Mountbatten-Windsor’s former close protection officers are being quizzed by detectives over his relationship with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Metropolitan Police revealed on Friday night it was also working with counterparts in the US to establish whether London airports had been used to “facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation” using Epstein’s ‘Lolita Express’ plane.
It is alleged that victims were flown into Stansted Airport on the jet with up to 90 flights landing at the airport’s private terminal. Uniformed officers are carrying out systematic and thorough examinations of Royal Lodge in Windsor, where Andrew lived until just over a fortnight ago.
Andrew has vigorously denied wrongdoing in relation to allegations of sexual misconduct and is yet to respond to allegations about his role as envoy.
Such searches for evidence often involve the lifting of floorboards or removal of roof panelling by specially trained Licensed Search Officers who work in pairs.
Former Met Detective Chief Inspector David McKelvey explained: “They will be broken down into groups with a team leader who will have an exhibits book to log every item, detailing when and where it was found for continuity of evidence.
“If you do the job properly you take the thing to pieces and it will involve the lifting of floorboards and inserting fibre optic cameras into enclosed spaces.”
The Met is also asking if anyone saw or heard anything relevant to the ongoing probes into the ex-prince’s links with Epstein. In 2016 the force said it had decided not to proceed after Virginia Giuffre filed court papers in Florida alleging she was trafficked by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell to have sex with Andrew while she was a minor.
The Met said on Friday that no new reports of alleged sexual offences have been made since the recent release of millions of pages of documents related to Epstein by the US Department of Justice.
It said: “The Met is identifying and contacting former and serving officers who may have worked closely, in a protection capacity, with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
“They have been asked to consider carefully whether anything they saw or heard during that period of service may be relevant.”
The process will involve tracking down and speaking to scores of officers and is a reflection of the pressure the Met is under having previously declined to investigate Andrew. Mr McKelvey said millions of files need to be checked by officers, which would take many months. He added: “It’s a mammoth task.”
West Yorkshire Police today became the 10th force to confirm it was reviewing material from the avalanche of files relating to Epstein’s crimes released by the US Justice Department.
Andrew appeared to hole himself up in his isolated cottage in Sandringham after he was last seen slouched in the back of a car, leaving Aylsham police station in Norfolk. Up to five police officers also remained outside the five-bedroom cottage.
Andrew’s protection officers were seen driving in and out of the property, but there was no sign of the King’s younger brother. It comes as the whereabouts of Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, remain unclear with reports she may have gone to the Middle East.
Fergie has not been seen for almost five months since it emerged she had continued her friendship with Epstein despite previously publicly saying she had cut all ties with him.
A source said: “I’ve been talking to her friends. She sounds in a bad way. She’s been telling people she is really suffering with her mental health and thinks everyone is out to get her.
“But she is adamant that she wants to get out there and start earning money again. I can’t see how she’s going to do it. Her brand is toxic.”
Andrew’s daughters, Princesses Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, are said to be in shock over their father’s arrest. Eugenie, 35, was spotted skiing in Switzerland with her family just hours before her father was detained.
On Thursday, the King issued an unprecedented statement following his brother’s arrest, saying the “law must take its course” and that he and the rest of the Royal Family would “continue in their duty and service”.
Andrew’s sister Princess Anne continued with engagements but did not respond when a reporter shouted “How do you feel about your brother’s arrest?” as she visited the Yorkshire Crisps factory in Sheffield.
