San Francisco Frontiers - UK police search property as royals reel from Andrew's arrest

The disgraced royal, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was "released under investigation" late Thursday after hours of questioning, as police probe misconduct claims over his links to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

During around 11 hours in custody, officers raided his current home on the private Sandringham Estate belonging to his brother, King Charles III, and his previous residence in Windsor, west of London.

Footage aired Friday showed officers back at Mountbatten-Windsor's former Royal Lodge home on the Windsor estate, with large black unmarked vans believed to be police vehicles on site.

Meanwhile Mountbatten-Windsor -- who was marking his 66th birthday when arrested -- was nowhere to seen, hunkering down within the sprawling grounds of Sandringham in Norfolk, eastern England.

King Charles III issued a rare, personally signed statement Thursday insisting "the law must take its course" and sought to project a business-as-usual air, carrying out public duties including opening London Fashion Week.

But royal commentators were in no doubt the first arrest of a senior royal in centuries signalled a profound crisis.

"It's a hugely significant moment for the British monarchy," royal expert Ed Owens told AFP, noting much remained unclear including whether Mountbatten-Windsor would be criminally charged.

"It's the unknown elements in this particular instance that I think pose so much concern and arguably a threat to the monarchy."

- 'Bad apple' -

Almost all Britain's newspapers carried on their front pages a photograph of the disgraced royal, looking haggard and wild-eyed as he left a Norfolk police station in a vehicle.

"Downfall", headlined the Daily Mail headline.

The Sun tabloid noted that, like anyone arrested, Mountbatten-Windsor would have had a DNA saliva swab taken along with his finger prints and a photograph.

Once a Falklands War hero and reportedly the late Queen Elizabeth II's favourite son, Mountbatten-Windsor is now deeply unpopular with Britons.

"I'm really pleased that nobody's above the law," Jo Mortimer, 64, who lives in the Norfolk town of Aylsham where Mountbatten-Windsor was held in custody, told AFP on Friday.

Fellow local Jacob Twomey, 27, noted he was "young enough that I've only ever heard him as a headline" in newspapers.

The retail store worker added he still "liked" the royals and thought the ex-prince was just "one bad apple".

A YouGov poll conducted after Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest showed 82 percent believed he should be removed from the line of succession. He remains eighth in line to the throne.

"Andrew must be removed ... don't argue why it is difficult. Just do it," veteran royal expert Robert Jobson wrote in The Sun.

Royal editor of the Sunday Times Roya Nikkah told the BBC: "I think trust in the institution is really at risk of being eroded."

Thursday's dramatic events sent shockwaves around the world, with US President Donald Trump calling it "very sad".

"It's so bad for the royal family," he told reporters.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Friday the arrest represented "an extraordinary fall from grace" but downplayed the prospect of a vote to remove King Charles as his country's head of state.

- Commercially sensitive -

Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest follows new revelations that the ex-prince appeared to have sent Epstein potentially confidential documents while serving as a UK trade envoy, a post he held for a decade from 2001.

In a November 2010 email seen by AFP, Mountbatten-Windsor appeared to share with the US financier reports on his visit to several Asian countries, among other communications about investment possibilities.

Epstein had been convicted in the United States in 2008 of procuring a child for prostitution.

Official guidance is thought to stipulate that trade envoys have a duty of confidentiality over sensitive commercial or political information related to their official visits.

Charles last year stripped his brother of his titles and ordered him to leave his Windsor mansion, although the ex-prince has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

That followed one of Epstein's accusers, Virginia Giuffre, last year recounting in shocking detail in her posthumous memoirs claims that she had been trafficked three times to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsro, twice when she was 17.

Mountbatten-Windsor settled a US civil lawsuit in 2022 brought by Giuffre while not admitting liability.

The police probe stems from the US justice department last month releasing millions of files from its investigation into Epstein.

U.Campbell--SFF