Lauren Frayer

In a statement, police say he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

That's the same language they used to describe the arrest of King Charles' brother Andrew four days earlier.

Both men are accused of sharing confidential government information with Jeffrey Epstein.

Neither has been charged nor commented.

Police say Mandelson has been taken in for questioning after searches of two properties.

Prime Minister Starmer fired Mandelson as ambassador last fall after the extent of his ties to Epstein came out.

And Starmer has come close to losing his own job over his judgment in naming Mandelson in the first place.

Lauren Freyer, NPR News, London.

Police are searching those royal properties today.

They're also doing digital searches of those latest Epstein files which prompted this arrest.

They're looking specifically at Andrew's emails from the early 2000s when he was a U.K.

trade envoy.

and when he allegedly forwarded Epstein government travel itineraries, investment plans, which could have violated the U.K.

's Official Secrets Act.

Andrew had already been stripped of his royal title and evicted from his royal lodge on the grounds of Windsor Castle over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

He settled a lawsuit with one of the sex offender's underage victims and has long said he strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

But after the release of the latest files by the U.S.

Department of Justice, British police began investigating Andrew's correspondence with Epstein from the early 2000s, when Andrew was a U.K.

trade envoy.

and allegedly forwarded his friend government itineraries and investment plans.