British police on Thursday arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, over suspicions of misconduct in public office after accusations that he shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a British trade envoy.

The arrest was a stunning blow to the British monarchy, which has been rocked by scandals for decades and is now having to endure the spectacle of having one of its members arrested. The move escalated the long-running crisis for Buckingham Palace over the former prince’s ties to Mr. Epstein and allegations of sexual abuse of a young woman.

Crimes against humanity threshold
Under international criminal law, crimes against humanity occur when acts such as rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, trafficking, persecution, torture or murder are committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.

The experts said the patterns reported in the files may meet this threshold and must be prosecuted in all competent national and international courts.

The disclosure process stems from the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law on 19 November 2025. On 30 January 2026, following delays, the United States Department of Justice released a major tranche of material comprising more than three million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images.