Has a member of the Royal Family ever been arrested before?

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested at his home in Wood Farm today (Picture: AP)

The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor this morning is an unprecedented event for the Royal Family, raising questions rarely asked before.

Controversy in various forms has followed the British monarchy for centuries, but there have been very few genuine brushes with the law in the modern era.

While the former prince has not been charged with a crime and has previously strenuously denied any wrongdoing, even the initial step taken by the police this morning is historic.

Metro has looked into whether anything similar has happened to a member of the family in the past.

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Is Andrew the first member of the Royal Family to be arrested?

Yes, it is believed no member of the Royal Family has been arrested by the police in modern times.

While Andrew is no longer a working royal and has had all of his titles stripped, he is still a family member. His mother was Queen Elizabeth II and his brother is the King.

O’Bryan Grandison, Senior Lecturer in Policing at Birmingham City University, said: ‘He is the first senior royal to be arrested in modern history and this reflects the UK’s policing integrity.

‘These officers are following the evidence, free from political interference at a time when global influences speak differently.’

Anne, the Princess Royal, became the first Royal Family member to be convicted of a criminal offence in 2002, when she pleaded guilty to a charge under the dangerous dogs act.

The Princess Royal was convicted of a criminal offence in 2002 (Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images)

Her English bull terrier Dotty had bitten two children during a walk in Windsor Great Park.

However, contemporary reports show Anne and her husband Commodore Tim Laurence were summoned to court without being arrested.

What other members have had brushes with the law?

Princess Anne may be the only Royal Family member to be convicted, but that was not her first brush with the law.

In fact, she had been handed a speeding fine of £400 just a few months beforehand for driving at 93mph in a 70mph zone.

Driving has been a particular source of trouble for her relatives too.

In 2019, Prince Philip voluntarily handed over his driving licence after he crashed into a car containing two women and a baby in Norfolk.

Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, continued driving well into his nineties (Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

The Crown Prosecution Service later confirmed the then-97-year-old would not face prosecution over the collision.

And a year later, Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall was given a six-month driving ban after a speeding offence took her over the 12-point limit on her licence.

Can a member of the Royal Family go to jail?

The Royal Family can indeed go to prison if they are found to have committed a crime.

This means that if any royal acts unlawfully, then they are in the same position as any other UK citizen – with one major exception.

King Charles is subject to ‘sovereign immunity’, meaning no civil or criminal proceedings can be brought against him. He cannot be arrested and cannot go to jail.

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