According to a statement from Thames Valley Police, which the BBC has seen, police have arrested "a man in his 60s from Norfolk" as part of an ongoing investigation.
"The man is being held in police custody," the police said, but said that "in accordance with national guidelines" they will not publish the name of the arrested person, although they understand the great public interest.
"Following a thorough assessment, we have now launched an investigation into misconduct in public office," said Deputy Chief Constable Oliver Wright in a statement.
Police are also carrying out searches at addresses in Berkshire and Norfolk.
The arrest comes on the former prince's 66th birthday. It is not known whether Andrew has been questioned yet, nor where he is being held.
Police officers on site
Several police cars were on site outside the scandal-ridden former prince's home this morning, reports The Telegraph.
According to the newspaper, six vehicles and eight plainclothes police officers have been seen outside Andrew's home in Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate.
The former prince has recently been brought back into the spotlight after reports that he may have provided potentially classified information to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during his time as a trade envoy, according to documents from the Epstein investigation.
The Royal Household ready to assist
The information is being investigated by British police. Buckingham Palace says it is ready to assist.
An email from 2010 suggests that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then a prince, may have shared reports of business visits to Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China, with Epstein after an official visit to Asia.
He also allegedly sent details of the trip, during which he was accompanied by Epstein's business partners, and information about investment opportunities, the BBC reports. Trade envoys are bound by confidentiality when it comes to sensitive, commercial or political information related to official visits.
The former prince is one of many celebrities who have been caught in the crossfire of the Epstein scandal. Last year, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, King Charles' brother, was stripped of his royal titles over his association with convicted and deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Born on February 19, 1960, as Andrew Albert Christian Edward, he is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
He is number 8 in the British line of succession.
He served as a pilot in the British Navy during the Falklands War in 1982.
He married Sarah Ferguson in 1986. They became the Duke and Duchess of York. Andrew and Sarah divorced ten years later.
He has two daughters with Sarah Ferguson, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, born in 1988 and 1990 respectively.
He was accused in 2014 of raping then-17-year-old Virginia Giuffre in 2001 at the home of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Giuffre later sued Andrew, and the parties reached a settlement over the sexual assault allegations in 2022. Giuffre died in April 2025, aged 41.
Andrew renounced the title of Duke of York last October, as well as several other titles and honours, including Britain's highest order, the Order of the Garter. At the end of October 2025, he also lost the right to the title of prince.
