Ghislaine Maxwell's Brother Defends Former Prince Andrew After Arrest

Ghislaine Maxwell's brother is publicly backing former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ... claiming his actions may have been "sleazy" -- but, prosecutors clearly can't find any sexual misconduct dirt on him.

Ian Maxwell -- Ghislaine's older brother -- spoke with the UK publication The Telegraph on Thursday ... which just so happened to be the day Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

The former prince had a known association with Ghislaine and her late partner Jeffrey Epstein ... so naturally, the arrest came up.

Maxwell says Mountbatten-Windsor is going through an even more difficult time than his sister -- because while he and other family members stand behind her, he thinks the royals have abandoned Andrew.

Ian adds, "Look, he’s a single man and what he did or didn’t do with various women was sleazy, humiliating for him and embarrassing for the royals."

Maxwell is clear -- and we should be too -- that Andrew has not been arrested in connection with any kind of alleged sexual misconduct. He's being accused of misconduct while serving as Britain's special envoy for international trade ... when he allegedly gave Jeffrey Epstein classified reports.

Still, Andrew's family -- including his brother, King Charles III -- has distanced itself from him over the years ... and, he even relinquished his honorific of "Prince" in recent months because of his association with Epstein.

Ian has long maintained his sister's innocence ... and, in this interview, he claims she's "on the right side of history." He even claims feminist groups should've gone to bat for Maxwell because "she is a woman who has been treated abysmally by the system.”