Police searches of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's former home at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park continued on Sunday, as a government minister declined to rule out a judge-led inquiry into his links with Jeffrey Epstein. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said it was premature given the ongoing police investigation.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was questioned for 11 hours over allegations he shared sensitive information with Epstein while serving as UK trade envoy. Calls have mounted for him to be removed from the line of succession.
Ms Phillipson told Sky News: "We are not ruling anything out around this... but we have obviously got a live police investigation under way." She added that any sensible proposals would be considered, but the police needed time and space to do their work.
Thames Valley police began searching Royal Lodge on Thursday, with the operation expected to conclude on Monday. Separately, the Metropolitan police said it was contacting former protection officers assigned to Mountbatten-Windsor, asking them to consider whether anything they saw or heard might assist ongoing reviews.
A former head of royal protection, Dai Davies, said it was "inconceivable" that former guards had no relevant information. He called for a judge-led inquiry, saying the establishment had taken the public for fools. Meanwhile, senior Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat urged a parliamentary investigation into links to Epstein involving both Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson, raising questions of foreign influence and national security.
