We present spectropolarimetry of the powerful radio galaxy 3C 265 at z=0.811. The rest-frame UV continuum, which has an elongated structure misaligned by about 35 deg with respect to the radio axis, and the broad MgII 2800 are strongly polarized, while the narrow forbidden lines are unpolarized. The E-vector direction is constant with wavelength and is perpendicular to the UV axis. Therefore the extended UV continuum is due to scattering of anisotropic quasar light, and the other explanations of the `alignment effect' in distant radio galaxies, involving a direct connection with the radio-emitting plasma, are very unlikely in 3C 265, because of the misalignment.