What was claimed
Three images show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being arrested by uniformed police officers.
Our verdict
These images are AI-generated.
AI-generated pictures of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest shared online
Three images which seem to show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being led away by police have been shared online in the wake of his arrest yesterday. But these pictures are AI-generated.
The King’s younger brother, who was stripped of his Prince title last year, was arrested by Thames Valley Police at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk on Thursday (19 February) on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He was released under investigation later the same day.
The arrest follows Thames Valley Police reportedly saying they were assessing a complaint over alleged sharing of confidential material by Mr Mountbatten-Windsor with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
While there are real images and video footage of unmarked police vehicles arriving at Sandringham on Thursday morning, we’ve found no published images showing the moment of his arrest, nor of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor being led away by officers.
One picture being shared online shows the former prince being led away by two uniformed officers holding his arms, with a police vehicle and more uniformed officers in the background. However there are several glitches that are clues this is an AI creation.
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The hand of the police officer holding his right arm appears not to be grasping onto anything, with a distorted finger visible. In addition, the helmets worn by both police officers have distorted emblems, and there is nonsensical lettering on the right-hand officer’s shoulder epaulette.
A different picture which appears to show Mr Mountbatten-Windsor handcuffed and with his arms held by two police officers has gained hundreds of reactions on Facebook.
But this image is also not genuine. Signs it has been created with AI include a name tag being written in symbols that are not English, and there is also what appears to be an extra malformed finger on the gloved hand of the police officer on the right.
The third picture, in which Mr Mountbatten-Windsor is shown in handcuffs being led by police officers in high-vis jackets, was originally posted earlier today in higher quality by an Instagram account, with a caption stating: “This image used is an AI mockup.”
In all three images the emblem on the caps the officers are wearing do not match the real versions worn by Thames Valley Police officers.
Before sharing content like this that you see online, first consider whether it comes from a trustworthy and verifiable source. Our Full Fact toolkit can help you do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as altered because these are not real images of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.