Armed Man Arrested After Threatening Prince Andrew on Dog Walk

A man armed with a weapon was arrested Wednesday evening after allegedly confronting Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — the former Prince Andrew — while he was walking his dogs near his home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England.

According to Norfolk Constabulary, officers were called to the village of Wolferton shortly after 7:30 p.m. following reports of a man “behaving in an intimidating manner” in the area. “Officers attended, and the man was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and possession of an offensive weapon,” police said in a statement. “He was taken to King’s Lynn Police Investigation Centre for questioning and remains in custody.”

The Daily Telegraph, which first reported the details of the confrontation, said the suspect was wearing a balaclava and had been sitting in a parked car when he spotted the former royal approximately 50 yards away. The man then got out of the vehicle, ran toward Andrew, and shouted abuse at him. Andrew and his protection officer got into their car and sped away from the scene. Police have not specified what type of weapon was involved — under UK law, the term “offensive weapons” can cover knives, truncheons, and other items capable of causing injury.

A Quiet Life That Keeps Getting Interrupted

Andrew, 66, moved to Marsh Farm on King Charles III’s private Sandringham Estate — about 100 miles north of London — after being evicted from Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle last year. That eviction came in the wake of the long-running fallout from his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which cost him his royal titles, his honors, and any remaining foothold in official royal life.

It has not been a quiet retreat. In February, Andrew became what is believed to be the first senior British royal in nearly 400 years to be arrested when police held him for hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office — a case tied to his communications with Epstein. Investigators had been assessing reports that Mountbatten-Windsor passed trade information to Epstein in 2010, when he was serving as the UK’s special envoy for international trade. That correspondence was among the millions of pages of documents released by the U.S. Justice Department as part of its investigation into Epstein.

The Epstein connection has defined — and effectively ended — Andrew’s public life. One of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, alleged she was forced to have sex with the then-prince three times beginning when she was 17. Andrew denied the allegations but ultimately settled the civil case for an undisclosed sum, acknowledging Giuffre’s suffering as a victim of sex trafficking. Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025 at the age of 41.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment on Wednesday’s incident. Andrew’s representatives had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication. No information has been released about the suspected motive behind the man’s behavior.