How rare is it for a royal to be arrested?

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, younger brother of King Charles, has now been released under investigation following his arrest yesterday (19 February 2026) on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The news followed an announcement by Thames Valley Police that they were assessing a complaint over the alleged sharing of confidential material by the former prince with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, but the arrest is the latest development in a scandal that could prove enormously damaging for the royal family.   In this episode of HistoryExtra’s series History Behind the Headlines: Briefing, Hannah Skoda from the University of Oxford looks back at other historical instances of royals being arrested – and the reasons behind their brushes with the law.   -----   HISTORY BEHIND THE HEADLINES For more in-depth thoughts from Hannah Skoda on the historical parallels of the news of Andrew's arrest, don't miss next Thursday's episode of our History Behind the Headlines podcast. For more details and to follow now for the latest updates, click here: https://play.megaphone.fm/vv4s-xn6tfmntfojkacmna   ----- GO BEYOND THE PODCAST  If you’ve enjoyed this episode, why not become a member of HistoryExtra for access to thousands of ad-free podcasts, hundreds of hours of video and a huge archive of articles from leading historians: https://www.historyextra.com/subscribe/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices