Former prince Andrew wins legal challenge over lawfulness of search warrants

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former British prince, has won a legal challenge over the lawfulness of warrants that police officers obtained to search two of his properties before his arrest in connection with the Epstein files.A judge at the high court in London on Thursday said “a significant error was made in the application for and grant of” warrants obtained by Thames Valley Police ahead of his arrest on his 66th birthday earlier this year on suspicion of misconduct in public office.Mr Justice Hilliard said in a ruling that the police and Mountbatten-Windsor had agreed that the search warrants were unlawful.However, it remains unclear how significantly the ruling will change the former prince’s legal position. The court heard that a criminal investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor was ongoing.READ MOREThames Valley Police insisted the ruling was about the narrow point of the legislation used to obtain the warrants and said it was continuing legal action over the status of the material seized during the searches.“The agreement that led to the quashing of the warrants relates specifically to a decision made by the court regarding the legal basis for these and is not a judgment on our ongoing investigation,” the force said.It said it retained the evidence and expects to be able to examine and use it in its investigation if it succeeds in the continuing legal action.“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 force said.The Old Bailey issued warrants to allow Thames Valley Police to search Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk and his former home at Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park before his arrest on February 19th.His arrest was the first of a member of the royal family on a criminal warrant since King Charles I at the end of the English civil war.“Our investigation into alleged misconduct in public office by a man in his 60s from Norfolk remains ongoing, and we continue to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry to effectively and fairly progress this investigation,” Thames Valley Police said.Police launched an investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor’s conduct after revelations in the US department of justice’s Epstein files about his conduct while an unpaid special representative for UK Trade and Investment between 2001 and 2011.Communications in the files between Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, show that the then-prince advocated for Epstein on a state visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the late queen Elizabeth in 2010.They also showed he sought to broker an $8 billion loan between China and the UAE before the start of an official visit to China later the same year. They showed that he had shared information acquired as a result of his trade role with Epstein and his associates.Mountbatten-Windsor denies wrongdoing. Thames Valley said on Thursday that it was continuing with its inquiries. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026