U.K. police have arrested the former Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was previously sued in 2021 by Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of multiple instances of sexual assault when she was underage. The lawsuit was settled out of court shortly after it was filed, but Mountbatten-Windsor was allowed to keep his royal title and privileges at the time. Those were recently stripped following revelations about the extent of his friendship with the American serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Their friendship has been widely known to the public since at least 2008, when Epstein was first convicted for soliciting a minor for sex.

British authorities are now reportedly investigating whether Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential government information with Epstein in 2010 while serving as a U.K. trade representative. “This is a story about sex trafficking, about the abuse of numerous women, and it seems like where justice might be brought, it’s on a different charge, which is sharing confidential information with a powerful person,” says Novara Media’s Michael Walker.