Scotland Yard has announced it is expanding its inquiry into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor by approaching all his former protection officers and reviewing records of flights at London’s airports to see if they were used for human trafficking.
The disclosure by the Metropolitan police is separate to the inquiry that led to the former prince’s arrest on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, but underlines the complex nature of the multiple investigations now focused on King Charles’s brother.
The National Police Chief’s Council is helping to coordinate the work of the eight different forces investigating matters arising from Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with the disgraced child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Police are understood to be seeking unredacted documents relating to Andrew from the US Department of Justice.
In another significant political development, the government said on Friday it would consider introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of succession once the police investigations have concluded.
The king’s brother spent 11 hours in a Norfolk police station on Thursday, having his mugshot taken. Thames Valley police continued to search his former home at Royal Lodge, Windsor, for a second day on Friday.
The Metropolitan police, which provides highly trained protection officers to VIPs, said on Friday that it was identifying and contacting current and former serving officers who may have worked closely with Mountbatten-Windsor in a personal protection capacity.
“They have been asked to consider carefully whether anything they saw or heard during that period of service may be relevant to our ongoing reviews and to share any information that could assist us,” a statement said.
The Met also said it would examine claims that airports in the London area were used by flights linked to Epstein to traffic women.
Five other British forces are examining whether such claims about airports in their areas merit full criminal investigation. Airports the Met will look at include Heathrow, Biggin Hill as well as RAF Northolt, which also hosts private flights.
The Met said: “Following the further release of millions of court documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein by the US Department of Justice, we are aware of the suggestion that London airports may have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
“We are assessing this information and are actively seeking further detail from law enforcement partners, including those in the US.”
As well as the Met, up to seven other forces so far are seeking the unredacted documents from the Epstein files held by US authorities as they intensify their pursuit of the disgraced financier’s links to British figures.
A release of millions of documents held by US authorities about Epstein earlier this month has led to the former Prince and former Labour cabinet minister Peter Mandelson being placed under criminal investigation for misconduct in public office after allegedly passing sensitive material to Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor could not be contacted for comment but has in the past denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. Mandelson has denied any criminal wrongdoing and apologised for his association with Epstein.
A national coordinating committee has been set up for the various police investigations, led by a serving Met assistant commissioner, Louisa Rolfe, now on secondment to the National Police Chief’s Council.
The Guardian understands a senior detective will be recruited by the committee to help coordinate issues like getting the original documents from the US.
The formal requests will be made by National Crime Agency, with some forces saying they will use artificial intelligence to help plough through the mountain of material held in the Epstein files.
A senior source said: “There are millions of documents which we want unredacted. We need to turn that into evidence. It is a massive job. You are never going to get a conviction based on a few redacted emails.”
Five forces are considering claims about the Epstein flights into airports in their area; Norfolk, Essex, Bedfordshire, West Midlands, and Police Scotland.
Surrey and Thames Valley police forces are considering claims of sexual wrongdoing by the former Prince Andrew.
The misconduct in public office allegations against Andrew stem from his time as a UK trade envoy, a role he gained in 2001 before stepping down a decade later over his friendship with the convicted sex offender Epstein.
It is understood that the Cabinet Office is ready to provide any government documents connected to Andrew’s period as a trade envoy if asked by police, although no request is believed to have been made yet.
While Andrew’s role was administered by UK Trade and Investment, a now defunct body co-run by the Foreign Office and business department, the Cabinet Office is the lead department for such inquiries. It is now sorting through documents due to be released about the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the US.
Mounbatten-Windsor was released on Thursday evening under investigation, which means there are no restrictions on his freedom.
Detectives are yet to take formal early investigative advice from the CPS, a spokesperson for the prosecutor said. That suggests any decision about whether the king’s brother faces charge or not, is some time away.