Andrew Windsor spent his 66th birthday not within the light grandeur of his outdated $40million Royal Lodge mansion, however inside what one former cop informed RadarOnline.com would have been a “boxroom-sized” jail cell – full with a bench mattress, half-screened bathroom, and a sloppy microwaved meal.
The fallen former prince and ex-duke was arrested shortly after 8 am on February 19 at Wooden Farm on the Sandringham property in Norfolk on suspicion of misconduct in public workplace.
Officers from Thames Valley Police transported him to Aylsham police station for questioning as a part of an investigation into allegations that, whereas serving because the U.Okay.’s commerce envoy between 2001 and 2011, he handed delicate emails to Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew has constantly denied wrongdoing. He was launched beneath investigation later that night.
For a person accustomed to the 31-room splendor of his former Lodge residence in Windsor Nice Park and a retinue of workers, the circumstances in custody would have been brutal.
One ex-Metropolitan Police detective mentioned: “The holding cell he was positioned in would have been extraordinarily compact – comparable in dimension to a small spare field room in an extraordinary suburban home. “It will have been practical, not comfy, and definitely not designed with standing in thoughts.
“However police custody doesn’t function on a sliding scale of privilege. There isn’t a such factor as a premium possibility, no higher mattress, no particular catering. Everybody receives the identical customary problem – fundamental bedding, fundamental services, and meals that’s usually reheated in a microwave. Rank, wealth, and background rely for nothing as soon as that cell door closes.”
The supply added reserving procedures would even have been strictly adopted when it got here to dealing with Andrew. On arrival, the shamed former royal would have been introduced earlier than a custody sergeant, knowledgeable of the grounds for his detention, and browse his rights, together with entry to authorized recommendation and the fitting to inform somebody of his arrest.
He would then have undergone a medical and welfare evaluation. As a precaution, belts, ties, and shoelaces are routinely eliminated to cut back the chance of self-harm.
The cell services would have been austere. A police supply mentioned: “Inside, there can have been the naked minimal – a chrome steel bathroom within the nook and a slim bench fastened to the wall with a skinny, wipe-clean mattress on high. That is it. No furnishings, no private touches, nothing that might be described as comfy.”
The insider added that the mattress can be just a few inches thick and coated in vinyl, with a standard-issue blanket supplied for heat. The bathroom, he defined, is screened solely by a half-height partition providing restricted privateness, and all the cell space is topic to CCTV monitoring in keeping with trendy custody procedures.
One other policing supply mentioned there would have been no acknowledgment of Andrew’s birthday. They added: “Completely not! There isn’t a particular remedy as a result of it occurs to be your birthday. Custody is custody. It’s designed to be impartial and procedural, not a celebration or a celebration.”
He continued: “There can be no cake, no card, nothing of pleasure. At most, the custody sergeant would possibly word the date of delivery whereas finishing the paperwork, however that will not have been a second for jokes or light-hearted feedback. The environment in a custody suite is severe, and officers are targeted on course of and welfare, not marking milestones.”
The insider added: “Meals would possible have consisted of a reheated prepared meal and tea served in a plastic cup. It’s an intensely solitary surroundings. As soon as that cell door closes, you might be left alone with nothing however naked partitions and your individual ideas.
There isn’t a tv, no radio, no telephone to scroll by way of, no distractions of any type. You aren’t sharing the area, and you aren’t being entertained. Time strikes slowly in a holding cell as a result of there may be merely nothing to occupy you past ready for the subsequent stage of the method, which is being interviewed.”
After session along with his lawyer, Andrew would have been quizzed beneath warning earlier than returning to the cell till his launch. One other police supply harassed as soon as any detainee is launched, officers don’t present onward transport.
They mentioned: “We aren’t a chauffeur firm. When somebody is discharged from custody, it’s their duty to rearrange their very own raise.” In a case like this, it’s inconceivable that Andrew would have been left to kind it out alone. I’d anticipate that safety or a personal driver was already ready to gather him.”
Reflecting on the distinction along with his former way of life, the supply added: “Strolling out of a custody suite after a day in a naked cell is a sobering expertise for anybody. For somebody used to the size and luxury of Royal Lodge, the shift from that stage of privilege to a stark police station surroundings would have been head-spinning. The space between these two worlds would have felt very actual by the point he stepped out within the chilly.”