Warrant Fight

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor wants a British court to declare unlawful the police search warrants used against him before his February arrest.

A judge at London's Central Criminal Court issued the warrants on February 18, a day before Thames Valley Police arrested Mountbatten-Windsor at his new home on the Sandringham Estate, the BBC reported. Officers searched that property, called Marsh Farm, and his former residence, Royal Lodge in Windsor, CNN reported. Thames Valley Police confirmed Monday it is "engaged in legal proceedings in relation to warrants previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court." The force called further comment inappropriate.

Police arrested Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The arrest followed revelations in the Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice, CNN reported. Emails in the files show he shared official documents with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as Britain's trade envoy, the Irish Times reported. He also advocated for Epstein during a 2010 state visit to the United Arab Emirates and tried to broker an $8 billion loan between China and the UAE that year, the paper reported. Mountbatten-Windsor denies any wrongdoing tied to Epstein.

King Charles stripped his younger brother of his prince title in 2025. The posthumous memoir of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre renewed public pressure, CNN reported. Giuffre, who alleged Mountbatten-Windsor sexually assaulted her as a teenager, died by suicide in April 2025. A royal source told CNN that the king's private allowance for his brother is not meant to fund the legal challenge.

Thursday afternoon, a High Court hearing on the warrants is set to open in London before Mr Justice Hilliard, the Irish Times reported. Part of it in private. Police are seeking to keep some documents sealed.

Even a win for Mountbatten-Windsor might not be the victory it appears, Nick Vamos, a criminal lawyer at Peters & Peters and former head of special crime at the Crown Prosecution Service, told the BBC. Disputes over warrants are not uncommon, he said, and police who lose on a technical error can sometimes still keep what they seized.

"The police can apply back to the Crown Court to retain the material if they have grounds to immediately seize it again," Vamos said.