King Charles III has authorised palace officials to hand over sensitive documents and records to detectives investigating his brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, in a significant development in the ongoing misconduct probe.
The 77-year-old monarch is understood to have granted permission for courtiers to provide police with files relating to Andrew’s former role as the UK’s trade envoy, as officers continue their investigation on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Sources say the move reflects the King’s earlier statement following his brother’s arrest, when he said: “We have said we will cooperate fully and wholeheartedly.”
The palace declined to comment on whether officers could conduct searches within the King’s official residences, where Mountbatten-Windsor had a private office and apartment until 2022.
One royal source suggested there was a risk investigators could conclude that senior figures at Buckingham Palace “were aware of what Andrew was doing and covered it up”. The same source added: “If that did happen, it would have been in Buckingham Palace under an earlier leadership,” stressing that neither King Charles III nor Prince William would have been involved in such decisions at the time.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested last Thursday and questioned for 11 hours before being released under investigation. Detectives are continuing searches at Royal Lodge, his former residence. He denies any allegations of wrongdoing.
Last year, King Charles stripped his brother of all remaining titles and evicted him from Royal Lodge, relocating him to Norfolk, following further scrutiny over Andrew’s association with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The late Queen Elizabeth II has been described by those close to the Royal Family as leaving an “unexploded bomb” for Charles to defuse, having sought to shield her youngest son from public controversy during her reign.
A royal source told *The Sunday Telegraph*: “It wouldn’t surprise me if the Queen just said she didn’t want to hear disobliging things about Andrew and used her red boxes as a shield. But her popularity will protect the monarchy to some extent and Charles will get a lot of public sympathy, which will bolster the monarchy’s position.”
Those close to the family believe that “Charles and William’s genuine horror of the situation” allows the public to “make a distinction” between Andrew and the wider institution.
As one friend of the royals put it: “There is ethical insulation from Andrew with his brother and nephew, and that’s a thick layer of insulation. But it heaps huge pressure on the institution to understand that, in the future, a different sort of monarchy is needed and meaningful change under the next reign.”
As part of their inquiry, officers may also examine the controversial £15 million sale of Andrew’s former property, Sunninghill Park, to Kazakh businessman Timur Kulibayev — a sum reportedly £3 million above the asking price.
Scotland Yard has urged any royal protection officers who previously worked with Mountbatten-Windsor to report suspicions of wrongdoing through official channels.
Meanwhile, a friend of the King said he has “thought deeply and felt powerfully about this issue in his in-tray since reign change, and has tried to take swift action,” adding: “Hopefully when the waters settle, people will see that in the circumstances, the King demonstrated leadership, did his duty and continued with his service.”