The Claire Byrne Show
Latest on the police investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
22 May 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
And police in the UK will appeal for people to come forward today if they believe they were victims of sexual misconduct at the hands of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Thames Valley police are also investigating the former prince in relation to allegations of misconduct in public office and are believed to have uncovered important evidence in searches of his former homes.
Let's get the latest on this now. I'm joined by Sky News crime commentator Martin Brunt. Martin, good morning. Thank you for being with us.
Good morning, Claire.
Chapter 2: What recent developments have emerged in the police investigation of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor?
So these are pretty significant developments, would you say, overnight?
They are. I mean, I suppose what it signals is a potential expansion of the police investigation. But in some respects, it hasn't changed because what we're discovering, I suppose, and what the police are keen to emphasise is that in the allegation of misconduct in public office,
That's not at all in any way restricted to financial crimes or the original allegation that the former prince handed over government documents or sensitive commercial information. to Jeffrey Epstein in his role as a trade envoy. Misconduct in public office can cover all sorts of allegations, including sex offences, fraud, corruption, perverting the course of justice and other crimes.
It's not limited in the way that some people think. And the reason I suppose police have come out and are keen to explain this is that they think some potential victims might be put off when they read that allegation of misconduct in public office, that it is a very narrow crime on the statute book. So I think from day one, from his arrest,
On the 19th of February this year, police have been looking at all these other potential crimes, but they've come out now and made it clear that the public needs to understand that's the breadth of this investigation. And they've also said that it's a very complex investigation and it's likely to last many months.
But in your experience, do the police make an appeal like this if they think there are no victims? Or is it more likely that they believe there are victims out there who perhaps think that the investigation is quite narrowly focused on misconduct as we would understand it, as you've just explained?
And so they believe that there may be people out there who have information and perhaps allegations to make about the former prince.
Yes. I mean, I think they've read all sorts of newspaper stories, TV stories that suggest there are other victims out there. And they are actually waiting or hoping to talk to a woman in America. And again, this flows from a media report where a woman claims that she was in 2010 ā taken to Andrew's former home, Royal Lodge in Windsor, for sexual purposes.
That's how she's described it through her lawyer. Now, this is a woman who has been talking at least through her lawyer to one media outlet, but hasn't yet made a formal complaint. And I think police look at her
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Chapter 3: What types of misconduct are being investigated beyond financial crimes?
Now, we know that that search concluded, I think, on that day or at least the next day, but they spent a lot longer at his former home, Royal Lodge in Windsor, I think something like a week. police were there searching that property, which is much bigger than his new home in Norfolk.
And yes, they have taken away a lot of material, amongst which you would think there is at least potential evidence for their investigation.
And the police also want, from the Department of Justice in the United States, the original Epstein files. Now, how critical is it that they get those files?
It is critical. Remember that this whole investigation by Thames Valley Police was launched in the wake of the release at the end of January of millions of documents in those FBI files on the FBI investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. A lot of them were redacted, many of them much more redacted than others. And police have at the moment...
And they're working only on those redacted, published documents. And they are talking to the Department of Justice in the hope that they will get the original documentation. But nothing is a given. Remember that the Americans have asked in the past over... couple of years at least, I think, for help in getting Andrew to talk to the investigators in America. And that hasn't happened.
So I think you get the sense that I wouldn't say there's tension between the two countries, the two authorities, but it doesn't look as though stuff is being handed over readily.
Martin, thank you very much for the benefit of your expertise. Martin Brunt there, Sky News commentator.
The Clare Byrne Show. With Aviva Insurance. Weekday mornings at 9. On Newstalk. Conversation that counts.
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