British police conducted a search of the former mansion of King Charles’ younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, on Friday.

Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on Thursday, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he sent confidential government documents to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein when he was a trade envoy.

The former prince was released under investigation after being held by police for more than 10 hours. He has not been charged with any offence.

Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, a convicted sex offender who took his own life in 2019, and said he regrets their friendship. But the release of millions of documents by the US government showed he had remained friends with Epstein long after the financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.

The arrest of the senior royal, eighth in line to the throne, is unprecedented in modern times. The last member of the royal family to be arrested in Britain was Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 after being found guilty of treason.

A conviction for misconduct in a public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and cases must be dealt with in a Crown Court, which handle the most serious criminal offences.