Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor barely had time to tuck into a birthday breakfast before a small convoy of unmarked police cars descended on his new home on the king's private Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
It was the first indication that a 'seismic' event was about to unfold in the House of Windsor and likely not one the former prince ever expected to witness in his 66 spins around the sun.
At 8am on Thursday, plain-clothes officers arrived at Wood Farm to take the king's brother into custody, with Thames Valley police confirming shortly afterwards that "a man in his 60s from Norfolk" had been arrested "on suspicion of misconduct in public office".
Depending on who you talk to, Thursday's developments were surprising or inevitable, inconceivable or decades in the making, but most palace watchers would agree they are unprecedented in modern times.
Andrew's critics have for years been anxiously waiting to see if the royal would ever end up in a prison cell over his past behaviour, while others hardly believed a day like this would arrive for a member of the British royal family.
Andrew's sins hid in plain sight for decades, but the release of the so-called Epstein files in staged document batches since December unearthed more concerning allegations around the king's brother.
Being named in the Epstein files is not an indication of misconduct.
Journalists sorting through the trove of 3 million documents were quick to home in on emails that appear to show the former prince forwarding sensitive government documents and commercial information to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, while the royal was a trade envoy for the UK.
The emails indicated Andrew sent information from his official work to a convicted paedophile. Andrew has not been charged with a crime.
"To say that this is a crisis moment, I think doesn't begin to cover it," journalist Emily Maitlis, who famously interviewed Prince Andrew in 2019, told ABC Radio National Breakfast.
Eleven hours after his dramatic arrest, Andrew emerged from Aylsham police station looking shell-shocked.
He was slouched in the back seat of a car, no doubt in an effort to avoid the notice of the long lens cameras of the waiting press pack.
The length of time he spent under detention indicates the police had plenty of questions to ask. Only time will tell if they were satisfied with his answers and if more queries will surface.
Last year, as the ghost of Epstein returned to haunt the house of Windsor, King Charles performed a series of exorcisms to satisfy an outraged public.
He stripped Andrew of his prince title and booted him out of his sprawling 30-room mansion after emails proved he had lied about breaking off contact with Epstein in 2010.
UK MPs also called for his succession rights to be revoked so that he no longer has a position as eighth in line to the throne.
This week, after the arrest, Charles's statement notably did not include any mention of Andrew as his brother.
"What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities," he said.
"...The law must take its course."
Like so many of the elite caught in Epstein's web, Andrew believed he would escape scrutiny for his behaviour.
But it is precisely because of his name and position that his alleged wrongdoing has attracted so much attention and has now delivered him into the hands of the law.
The allegations around Andrew
When Andrew represented the United Kingdom as a trade envoy from 2001 to 2011, the appointment was reportedly opposed by his brother but pushed through by then-prime minister Tony Blair.
The plum role was supposed to "promote UK business internationally, market the UK to potential inward investors and build relationships in support of UK business interests".
Andrew didn't earn a salary but one of the perks of the role was global travel funded by the UK taxpayer.
The ceremonial position placed him in powerful rooms with powerful people, including senior government and business contacts around the world.
He resigned from the post in 2011 over his connections to Epstein, the first in a series of demotions he would suffer from the connection.
From the reams of correspondence uploaded to the Department of Justice website, Epstein appeared to be a man who sought connections, information and access.
He was trained as a trader and appeared to seek out people he could transact with.
In the former prince, the emails allegedly show, he found someone who was willing to give him official information.
Trade envoys are required under official guidance to maintain a confidentiality over sensitive, commercial, or political information about their official visits.
On 7 October 2010, Andrew sent Epstein details of his official upcoming trips as trade envoy to Singapore, Vietnam, Shenzhen in China and Hong Kong.
In another, on Christmas Eve 2010, he appeared to send Epstein a confidential briefing on investment opportunities in the reconstruction of Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Maitlis said the "white collar" crime of Andrew allegedly sharing government secrets with Epstein may feel distant to ordinary people, given the more prevailing accusations of sexual misconduct.
But the arrest has still been hailed as progress by the family of Andrew's accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who was instrumental in bringing global attention to the former prince's association with Epstein.
A 'monumental' moment
Roberts Giuffre's brother, Sky Roberts, and his wife, Amanda Roberts, described Andrew's arrest as "monumental" in the years-long push for accountability.
"It's a day that is going to go down in the history books. And we're just so astronomically proud," Ms Roberts told the ABC.
"I know that it seems like a fraction, but it's huge.
"A royal, for the first time in modern-day history, has been arrested because of the implications of this case."
At least nine separate UK police forces have confirmed they are assessing reports from the Epstein files, and over in America, Democrats have asked the former prince to give evidence. Andrew did not respond.
But Sky and Amanda Roberts have called for the former prince to testify before the US Congress.
Asked what they would want politicians to press him on, Amanda Roberts said: "I would want them to ask him about the photo. I want them to give him that opportunity to tell the truth."
Sky Roberts agreed.
"I would like them to sit down and give a little bit of an honour to Virginia and say, 'Listen, I have one question to you'.
"Was the photo real? Were you at the flat? Had you met Virginia Roberts Giuffre before? And had you ever been in the presence of anybody under the age of 18?"
Andrew has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to his friendship with Epstein and the allegations brought by Roberts Giuffre.
He settled a lawsuit with her in 2022 for an undisclosed sum that legal experts estimated could be as high as $US10 million ($14 million).
'Nobody is above the law'
As monarch, King Charles is protected by sovereign immunity, a constitutional principle exempting him from all criminal and civil liability.
That immunity extends to "members of the family forming part of the household" under the State Immunity Act 1978, though legal experts say this applies to a small circle of people and does not include the monarch's own children.
There have been accounts of royals having brushes with the law over the years.
In 2002, Princess Anne pled guilty after her dog, a three-year-old English bull terrier called Dotty, bit two children as they walked in Windsor Great Park.
She was the first member of the royal family to be convicted of a criminal offence and was fined £500 for the attack.
And more than 350 years ago, during the English civil war, Charles I was detained by forces aligned with parliament, convicted of high treason and beheaded in 1649.
But what has made the arrest of Andrew so shocking is that, for all the moves to exile him from the royal family, he remains eighth in line to the throne and still lives on a royal estate.
"He is the king's brother … this is damaging to the reputation of the royal family to have someone who is in their inner circle to be accused of such crimes," royal commentator Afua Hagan said.
Shortly before Andrew's arrest, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that "one of the core principles in our system is that everybody is equal under the law".
"Nobody is above the law, and it is really important that that is applied across the board," he said.
The potential criminal investigation of a former prince is a clear indication of that principle being put into practice.
But just as Andrew's critics hoped that his unique position would not prevent him from facing justice, the process is made more complicated by his being a member of the royal family.
And whatever happens from here will inevitably cast a shadow on the institution Andrew represented for most of his life.
"People will be wondering what do the royal family know? Did they shield him? How long did [they] shield him for?" Ms Hagan said.
"I have been out and about at Buckingham Palace today and people have been saying, 'Great, there has been an arrest, but now what? Will there be a charge? Will he go court and serve prison time?'
"We don't know the answers to these questions but people want accountability."
The question of accountability will also likely extend to the late queen, who went to great lengths to shield Andrew, described as her "favourite" son, from his breathtaking lapses of judgement.
Even when she could not save him from his disastrous interview with the BBC in 2019, which resulted in him stepping back from his duties, she was photographed going for a horse ride with him days later.
It was widely regarded as a show of tacit support at a time when Andrew's military and royal career were in a dizzying tailspin.
Lessons for the United States?
Born royal, with all the privileges in the world, Andrew believed he would never face the consequences of his behaviour.
But with his brother at the helm, and the tide of public opinion against him, the wheels of justice appear to be catching up with him.
The developments could have lessons across the pond, where the fallout over the Epstein files has been limited to lower profile characters.
Asked what he thought about Andrew's arrest, US President Donald Trump responded: "I think it's a shame, I think it's so bad for the royal family. To me, it's a very sad thing."
In the United Kingdom, it's rare to hear such comments now from an angry public who are fed up with the Andrew problem.
Perhaps in an acknowledgement of that sentiment, Charles has shown he is a different monarch to the one who offered her son a measure of protection.
Rather than finding comfort and condolence inside the palace walls, Andrew has a king who is ready and willing to help authorities bring him down.
