We hold power to account. Our journalists investigate, interrogate and report without fear or favour. | | The extraordinary sight of Andrew leaving the police station last night |  | Hannah Furness Royal Editor | Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor spent nearly 12 hours in police custody on his birthday yesterday.
Finally driven out of Aylsham police station in Norfolk after dusk, he slumped in the back seat of a car looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
He had been arrested at breakfast time, spent the day facing questions relating to claims of misconduct in public office, and released “under investigation”. There is much more, in other words, to come. | Police stationed outside Wood Farm after raiding Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the Sandringham Estate | For those like me, who cannot get their heads around the vision of the late Queen’s son being fingerprinted and left in the hands of a duty solicitor, Martin Evans, our Crime Editor, has a fascinating rundown of how the arrest was likely to have unfolded.
There are many questions still to answer, not least whether Mr Mountbatten-Windsor will now face investigators on the other side of the Atlantic too. He is said to have one remaining key ally: the criminal defence solicitor nicknamed “Good News Gary”. However, Buckingham Palace will ensure the taxpayer does not foot the former prince’s legal bill, Victoria Ward, our Deputy Royal Editor, reports.
For the rest of the family, the world kept on turning.
The King and Queen plastered on their best smiles to carry on with their commitments. The King is determined that his brother’s actions will not interfere with his “commitment to duty”, “even when it might be personally challenging”, one Palace source told me last night.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor last night returned to Wood Farm in Sandringham, where the King is letting him stay for now. The elder brother, it is said, has half a mind on a duty of care for a man under extreme pressure, and half a mind on preventing him relying on other more “ill-intentioned benefactors”.
This is day one of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s new reality. Arrested but not charged, he has had a chance to search his memory and answer questions as truthfully as he can. When he settled an entirely separate civil claim with Virginia Giuffre, his sex assault accuser, for some £12m in 2022, he is said to have been frustrated at the lack of opportunity to clear his name.
This, in the most literal, official and legal sense, is his time to do so.
Read the full story and sign up to Hannah’s newsletter for daily analysis on the Royal crisis here ➤
Elsewhere, my colleagues report this morning that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s top aide is alleged to have struck a secret business deal with the Chinese state.
David Stern, the former prince’s closest business adviser, signed a contract for data centres with a central Chinese government ministry in 2013 after boasting of “strong access” to senior figures in Beijing.  | | Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor pictured with Hui Ka Yan, chairman of Chinese property developer Evergrande, and David Stern, his then aide | At the time, he was serving as a senior adviser to Mr Mountbatten-Windsor and was a close confidant of Jeffrey Epstein, the paedophile financier.
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More of our coverage:
Gordon Brown hands new sex trafficking dossier to police ➤
Mandelson’s consultancy collapses after Epstein revelations ➤ | Trump ready to hit Iran tomorrow, and China’s secret nuclear tests The firepower is nearly in place, writes Henry Bodkin. After a very public build-up of US military might in the Middle East over the past month, Donald Trump has now reportedly been briefed that he can order a strike on Iran as early as tomorrow. The approach of a second aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford, appears to be the final piece of the puzzle. By current estimates, it could arrive this weekend.
Read Henry’s full report ➤
When Donald Trump decided to turn against the Chagos deal on Wednesday night, Whitehall was left reeling, writes Tony Diver. Why would the US president suddenly turn against Sir Keir Starmer? | How far the Diego Garcia base is from Iran | The answer soon became clear – Britain had blocked him from using RAF bases to bomb Iran. The consequences for the special relationship could be severe.
Read Tony’s full report ➤
Elsewhere, China’s secret nuclear tests signal a new phase in its ambitions to win the global arms race, writes Sophia Yan. This comes just as the last remaining treaty between the US and Russia, aimed at preventing catastrophic nuclear war, expired this month. Nuclear ambitions in China, Russia, North Korea and Iran – all states hostile to the West — may mean that the US seeks to divert resources to counter aggression, and risks leaving Europe exposed.
Read Sophia’s full report ➤ | | Lisa Armstrong It was business as usual for His Majesty as he continued to champion British design on the first day of London Fashion Week Continue reading ➤ David Frost Starmer simply doesn’t care enough to defend Britain Continue reading ➤ Clive Aslet Blame sentimentalists for the plague of pigeons befouling British cities Continue reading ➤ | | To make sure you don’t miss our newsletters when they land in your inbox, click here. | | Special guests include award-winning author Lionel Shriver and former home secretary and current Reform MP Suella Braverman | | The Telegraph’s Paul Nuki skiing off-piste in the Pyrénées | | Recent fatalities in the Alps are a brutal reminder of the dangers off-piste skiing poses, yet the lure of untouched snow remains impossible to resist, writes Paul Nuki. Here’s a detail that didn’t make it into my story. Some 20 years ago, someone suggested skiing a chute between the cliffs. I said I couldn’t do it, forcing the entire group to go round. When we got to the other side and looked, there was nothing but rocks. Had I had more courage we would all have plunged off it one by one like lemmings. It’s the most important lesson I’ve ever learnt: always ski with a guide and trust your instincts. Continue reading ➤ | |  | | Just five years ago, Ford boss Jim Farley was hailing the electric Lightning pick-up truck as “the future”, writes Matt Oliver. However, as the car giant crashed to a multi-billion dollar loss this month, the American executive struck a much humbler tone. “I think the customer has spoken,” Farley said, as Ford scrapped the Lightning and reined in its electric vehicle ambitions. His company isn’t the only one. After betting big on an EV boom that never came to pass, car makers are beating a hasty retreat. Continue reading ➤ | | | Prenuptial agreements are booming across America. Couples are marrying later and have more assets to protect. Many are the children of messy divorces, and they are about to inherit vast sums from their baby boomer parents. A wave of prenup start-ups are cashing in – and the trend is coming to Britain. Continue reading ➤ | | | Modern video doorbells are now a common sight across Britain, giving homeowners reassurance and a way to screen visitors. However, a cheap device widely available online can temporarily disable their Wi-Fi connection. Legal to own, “deauthers” could usher in a new wave of crime that goes unrecorded. Continue reading ➤ | | | Dr Paula Hall, sex therapist and founder of the Laurel Centre, has spent 20 years treating sex and porn addiction | | Sex and porn addiction are very common problems that are destabilising marriages across Britain, writes Lauren Shirreff. However, it’s not only men who are vulnerable – experts believe that nearly a third of people struggling with sex addiction are women. I spoke to a leading expert about the subtle signs that porn addiction could set you on course for a divorce. Continue reading ➤ | | | From burgers to cornflakes to chocolate, Xanthe Clay tried M&S’s latest range to see if less really is more | Less is more at M&S, whose “Only...” range prides itself on the limited number of ingredients in its baked beans, burgers and chocolate bars. In these anti-UPF times that’s admirable, but has flavour been forgotten in its quest for clean labels? Xanthe Clay puts 11 products to the test to find out. Continue reading ➤ Here is another helpful article for you this morning: | | Raye kicked off This Tour May Contain New Music at Manchester’s Co-op Live | Concert Raye ★★★★★ “Dramatic endings! A brass section! Live strings! Musical medicine! Potential waffling!” promised the posters promoting Raye’s new tour – and the 28-year-old south London singer delivered on all those counts in a night of flawless entertainment and old-school glamour in Manchester. Backed by a live orchestra and debuting seven new songs, her soaring vocals turned the glacial arena into a snug jazz club. The British star – who has been compared to Amy Winehouse – proved that she belongs on the grandest stages.
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Who disguised themselves as a dragon? | Love of county While Orlando Bird, our loyal Reader Correspondent, is away, Joe Burgis is on hand to share an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Joe writes...
I was delighted to see Lancashire at the top of Chris Moss’s list of his 10 favourite counties. To my mind, a walk up Pendle Hill, followed by a pint of local ale at one of the Trough of Bowland’s many brilliant pubs, is unimprovable.
However, Ibbertson Woolfardisworthy raised a familiar concern: “I once had a summer holiday in the Forest of Bowland. It never stopped raining.”
Perhaps, then, East Sussex, the sunniest county, is preferable – with its “quintessentially English white-cliff coastline, the South Downs and more history than you can shake a stick at”, as Paul Dunne wrote.
If it’s history you want, then how about Wiltshire? Duncan McD made the case for this county. “Wiltshire is home to the largest concentration of third-millennium BC Neolithic monuments in Europe. There was something so special about this part of the country that our ancestors and continental neighbours congregated here, moving impossibly large stones from as far as Wales to build their monuments.”
That’s certainly impressive. Other counties have quieter appeal. As Fiona Goodier wrote: “I think Shropshire is one of the most underrated counties. It’s stunning, yet overlooked by so many that it has managed to remain rural and tranquil.”
M Webb was passionately in favour of Norfolk, a county under threat: “Beaches, beaches, beaches. Holkham to Wells is the finest beach walk in Britain. There are so many lovely places – Hunstanton, Holme, Brancaster, Thornham and all the Burnhams, including Burnham Thorpe, Nelson’s birthplace. Big skies, solitude, fantastic sea bathing. Tragically, many beautiful spots in Norfolk are threatened by the sea. I weep for those unfortunate people left homeless by storm and tide.” Which is your favourite county, and why? Send your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here.
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Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow.
Chris Evans, Editor | |
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