LONDON – The woman at the center of the most serious allegations now facing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has not spoken to police. Her lawyer has. It may be this distinction, narrow as it may seem, that determines whether Britain’s largest royal criminal investigation remains a trade secrets case or becomes something far more important.
Thames Valley Police confirmed in late May that its misconduct in a public office investigation – which began with allegations that the former Duke of York passed confidential business documents to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – could now extend to potential sex offences. Police said they had made contact with lawyers representing a woman who claimed she was taken to an address in Windsor in 2010 for sexual purposes, and described the encounter as being arranged by Epstein.
This development turns what prosecutors might previously have portrayed as a narrow breach of official duties into an investigation that touches on some of the most serious criminal areas of British law. Misconduct in public office, the charge for which Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested last February, carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Its legal definition is broader than its name suggests. Under British common law, the offense can include sexual misconduct, financial corruption, willful neglect of duty and improper use of an official position – meaning specialist officers do not need to treat a sexual allegation as a completely separate matter.
The BBC first reported the allegation at Royal Lodge last January, citing US lawyer Brad Edwards of Edwards Henderson, who said his client – a woman who was in her 20s at the time and not British – was sent to Britain by Epstein and, after a night out with Mountbatten-Windsor, was given a tour of Buckingham Palace. Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently and forcefully denied all allegations of wrongdoing. His representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
The Thames Valley Force was frank that it had not yet spoken directly to the woman. Survivors and their advocates have long warned that the reluctance of British institutions to prosecute royal figures has led to the silencing of women who might otherwise have come forward. On this occasion, investigators say they are trying to remove that obstacle. The force said it had assured the woman’s legal representative that any disclosure she made would be treated “with care, sensitivity and respect for her privacy and right to anonymity”, and that such communication would be entirely based on her wishes, “when and if she feels ready and able”.
Oliver Wright, assistant chief constable at Thames Valley Police, said the investigation brought together a dedicated team of experienced specialist investigators, including detectives with backgrounds in serious sexual offenses and financial crime. He confirmed that a number of witnesses had been spoken to, while urging others with knowledge of Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Epstein to contact the force. Prosecutors have not yet been asked to provide early investigative advice, meaning any decision on charges is still some way off.
The expansion of investigation into the area of sexual offenses follows directly from the expansion of the scope of the Misconduct Act. Thames Valley investigators are understood to be concerned that public interest has narrowed the perceived scope of their investigation to Epstein’s emails – documents released by the US Department of Justice in January that appear to show Mountbatten-Windsor directing confidential reports of official visits to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore to Epstein within minutes of receiving them, as well as sharing what he described as a “confidential brief” on investment opportunities in Afghanistan. The force has gone out of its way to point out that this understanding is incomplete.
The investigation is also gaining new dimensions from other police forces. The Metropolitan Police, which covers London, confirmed it was reviewing records relating to its previous assessments of the allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor, including files relating to the late Virginia Giuffre. It is understood Thames Valley investigators made contact with the Met to obtain the material. Giuffre, who died by suicide in April 2025, had accused Mountbatten-Windsor of sexually assaulting her on three occasions when she was 17 years old, accusations he denied. In 2022, He reached a settlement with her worth about $16 millionAccording to The Guardian, this avoided a civil trial.
Giuffre’s brother, Skye Roberts, told media after the arrest that his family welcomed the investigation as a “huge step in the right direction,” adding that law enforcement’s willingness to actively search for survivors represents a meaningful change. He also called on the American authorities to hand over the unredacted files of the Ministry of Justice to the Thames Valley Police, noting that the British force has so far been working from publicly published materials alone. It remains an open question whether the US government will cooperate with a formal British investigation request.
The Epstein files have put a series of British institutions under extraordinary pressure, with the royal family, parliament and police facing scrutiny over their historic handling of allegations linked to the late financier. Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest in February, on the occasion of his 66th birthday, was the first time a senior member of the British royal family had been taken into police custody in modern history. King Charles III said after the arrest that “the law must take its course” and that he would not comment further on his brother’s case.
Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his remaining royal titles by his brother in October 2025, after years of built-up controversy over his friendship with Epstein. He was forced to leave Royal Lodge – the Windsor residence where the 2010 allegations were said to have occurred – and move to a smaller, privately financed estate on the Sandringham estate. Thames Valley officers searched this same house for hours after his arrest in February. Searches at the Royal Lodge continued for six days before ending.
British documents published by the government in May also showed that Mountbatten-Windsor was not formally vetted before being appointed as the UK’s trade envoy in 2001, a role he held until 2011, and that his appointment was supported by his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. He described himself to Epstein at the time as being able to provide access that would be of commercial benefit.
What happens next depends, in material part, on what the woman who has not yet spoken to the police decides to do. Legal experts cited in the British coverage have noted that without a formal complaint from the alleged victim in the 2010 allegation, building an independent sex crime case would be much more difficult. The Misconduct Act gives investigators more flexibility, but the Crown Prosecution Service will ultimately decide whether the minimum level of evidence to charge has been met. Thames Valley Police admitted that assessment was unlikely to be reached for some time.
The investigation does not have a public end date. Other threads running alongside the Windsor investigation — including the pilot’s testimony and the broader Epstein network — continue to turn up new details for investigators to absorb. It remains to be seen whether this will lead to charges, or end in a decision not to prosecute. What has already been proven is that the matter is no longer limited to trade secrets only.
