Former Prince Andrew launches challenge to ‘quash’ police search warrants

Former British Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has launched a High Court challenge to “quash search warrants” obtained by the police before his arrest earlier this year.

The judiciary confirmed on Monday that a London court is likely to hold a private hearing on Thursday as Mountbatten-Windsor challenges Thames Valley Police over searches of his former homes on royal estates.

The disgraced royal was arrested on February 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office following allegations that he shared sensitive information with the late American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during his time as the United Kingdom’s trade envoy.

While he was released later that day, the 66-year-old remains under investigation. Mountbatten-Windsor has denied wrongdoing.

Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles last year following his connections to Epstein, who died in a prison in New York, United States, in August 2019.

Officers searched Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the remote Sandringham royal estate in eastern England and his former Royal Lodge residence in Windsor, west of London.

The judiciary’s press office said the case concerned an application by Mountbatten-Windsor for a “judicial review to quash search warrants issued by a judge at the Central Criminal Court on February 18, 2026”.

It said Thursday’s hearing was about an application by Thames Valley Police to restrict access to court documents in the matter.

“Whilst our investigation into misconduct in public office continues, we are engaged in legal proceedings in relation to warrants previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court,” the police said in a statement.

“As these legal proceedings are currently ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”