ANDREW MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR, the younger brother of King Charles, has moved out of his home on the royal estate in Windsor on Wednesday, following new revelations about his links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He has left Royal Lodge, where he had lived for decades, after years of scrutiny over his connections to Epstein, which have affected the British royal family.
Mountbatten-Windsor, 65, had hoped to remain at the 30-room Georgian mansion for longer, the Sun newspaper reported, but he moved late on Monday and was taken to a cottage on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, eastern England.
The royal, who had recently been seen riding his horse in Windsor, west of London, has always denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Following the latest release of files by the US Justice Department, Thames Valley Police said on Tuesday that they were reviewing a new allegation against Andrew.
A royal source confirmed the move to Norfolk and said Andrew could return to Windsor at times in the coming weeks while a transition phase was completed.
"With the latest batch of Epstein files it was made clear to him that it was time to go," the Sun quoted an unnamed friend as saying. "Leaving was so humiliating for him that he chose to do it under the cover of darkness."
Mountbatten-Windsor, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, stepped back from public life in 2019 after he was forced to quit all official royal duties.
Three years later, he settled a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager. He has always denied the allegation, but the case resurfaced last year following the release of her posthumous memoir.
Further releases of Epstein-related files in the United States last year led Charles to take action. In October, he removed Andrew’s title of prince and said he would be removed from Royal Lodge, in a move against a senior member of the royal family.
The king said his sympathy was with the victims of abuse.
Amid the release of the latest set of files related to Epstein, British police also opened an investigation into Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the United States, over alleged misconduct in public office, following claims he leaked market-sensitive information to Epstein.
The files included emails suggesting Mountbatten-Windsor stayed in contact with Epstein for more than two years after Epstein was convicted of child sex offences.
Andrew had previously denied maintaining contact with Epstein after his 2008 conviction, apart from a 2010 visit to New York, which he said was to end their relationship.
Prime minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that the former prince should appear before a US congressional committee following the latest revelations.
(With inputs from agencies)
