LONDON — Police in Norfolk have detained a suspect following reports that Prince Andrew faced threats from an armed individual near his residence in eastern England.
According to Norfolk Constabulary, the Wednesday evening arrest occurred after authorities received reports of someone “behaving in an intimidating manner” close to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s home.
“Officers attended, and the man was arrested on suspicion of a public order offense and possession of an offensive weapon,” police announced Thursday.
The individual remains in custody at a local police facility for interrogation. Authorities have not disclosed the specific type of weapon involved, though the classification encompasses knives, clubs, and similar items designed to inflict harm.
According to The Daily Telegraph, a ski mask-wearing individual charged toward the former royal while yelling threats. The confrontation allegedly took place near the Sandringham Estate during Andrew’s routine dog walk, prompting him and his security detail to quickly retreat to their vehicle and leave the area.
The 66-year-old Mountbatten-Windsor, King Charles III’s younger sibling, relocated to the monarch’s private Sandringham Estate approximately 100 miles north of London after being forced to leave his previous residence near Windsor Castle due to his controversial association with Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew currently resides at Marsh Farm, located within the Sandringham Estate grounds, following his departure from Royal Lodge last year.
The royal family removed all his ceremonial roles and public duties, effectively exiling him from official functions due to ongoing scandals involving financial troubles and connections to controversial figures, particularly Epstein.
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s victims, claimed she was coerced into sexual encounters with Andrew on three occasions beginning at age 17. Though he maintained his innocence, Andrew ultimately reached a private financial settlement and acknowledged Giuffre’s trauma as a trafficking survivor. Giuffre took her own life in April 2025 at age 41.
In an unprecedented move this past February, Andrew became the first high-ranking British royal in nearly four centuries to face arrest when authorities detained him for several hours on suspicion of official misconduct related to his Epstein connections. This marked a dramatic shift in a nation where law enforcement traditionally protected the royal family from public embarrassment.
Investigators previously indicated they were “assessing” allegations that Mountbatten-Windsor shared commercial intelligence with Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, during 2010 when Andrew served as the UK’s international trade representative.
Communications between the pair became public when the U.S. Justice Department released them alongside millions of documents from the American Epstein investigation.
