Breaking: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor wins court battle to have police search warrants quashed

Topic:CourtsPosted Fri 9 Oct 2026 at 12:46amFri 9 Oct 2026 at 12:46am, updated Fri 9 Oct 2026 at 1:22amFri 9 Oct 2026 at 1:22amAndrew Mountbatten-Windsor is snapped leaving Aylsham Police Station on the day he was arrested in February. (Reuters: Phil Noble)UK police have accepted warrants they use to search Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's homes earlier this year were unlawful, after the former prince won a court battle on Thursday.The King's brother launched legal action against Thames Valley Police over search warrants executed in February, when he was arrested on his 66th birthday.Police are investigating allegations of misconduct in public office, relating to his time as a UK trade commissioner between 2001 and 2011.Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, who was stripped of his royal titles last year, has not been charged. He has always maintained his innocence.In London on Thursday, local time, the High Court of Engalnd and Wales heard there were legal issues with the way the search warrants were granted by a judge in The Old Bailey earlier this year.While Thames Valley Police have accepted the warrants were technically unlawful, they are reapplying to keep the material in question retrospectively using different laws.In court on Thursday, the presiding judge Mr Justice Hillard said "the fact that the search warrants were quashed does not bring an investigation to an end, or mean that the whole of the investigation was unlawful"."We accept the position that the initial court's decision to issue warrants under the specific piece of legislation used was incorrect and therefore these must be legally quashed," a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said."Legal proceedings are currently ongoing to decide how material seized during the searches will be managed and whether we can lawfully retain it in support of our ongoing investigation."The police investigation was sparked after journalists uncovered documents which raised questions about whether the King's brother had leaked confidential government information to the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.The documents were released as part of the so-called Epstein files — a tranche of evidence the US Justice Department and FBI gathered as part of its investigations into the billionaire financier and paedophile. Epstein, who was once a friend of Mr Mountbatten-Windsor's, died by suicide in a New York prison in 2019.Being named in the Epstein files is not an indication of misconduct, and Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied wrongdoing.