LONDON — Police investigating former Prince Andrew’s connections to the late Jeffrey Epstein have conceded that the search warrants used to enter his properties and seize his belongings were unlawful, a London judge ruled on Thursday.
Justice Nicholas Hilliard stated that Thames Valley Police committed a significant error during the application process when they targeted the residences of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on February 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office, prompting police to search two of his homes. His legal representatives sought to invalidate the warrants used in those searches via the High Court.
Hilliard noted that both sides had agreed to set aside the warrants prior to the Thursday hearing.
Mountbatten-Windsor did not appear in court for the session.
Stephens of the London law firm Howard Kennedy characterized the hearing as an initial skirmish in the broader legal dispute.
“It’s the first step of Prince Andrew and his lawyers saying, ‘Actually, this is tainted evidence. It was obtained inappropriately,’’’ Stephens said. “Therefore it should be excluded from any criminal trial.”
King Charles III stripped Mountbatten-Windsor of his royal title last year, aiming to protect the rest of the royal family from the continuing fallout stemming from his younger brother’s ties to Epstein.
While Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, continues to receive a stipend from the King’s private funds, Buckingham Palace has clarified that those monies cannot be used to finance his challenge against the search warrants.
The police investigation initially targeted allegations that Mountbatten-Windsor shared sensitive information with Epstein while serving as a U.K. trade envoy, though authorities later stated they could also consider other matters.
Police questioned Mountbatten-Windsor for 11 hours before releasing him under investigation, leaving him neither charged nor exonerated.
This marked the first time in nearly four centuries that a senior British royal was placed under arrest.
The allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor surfaced after the U.S. Justice Department released millions of pages of documents from its investigation into Epstein’s sex trafficking and his network of wealthy, powerful associates.
Mountbatten-Windsor’s relationship with Epstein has embarrassed the royal family for more than a decade.
Lawmakers scrutinized the relationship as far back as 2011, when the then-prince was forced to relinquish his role as the U.K.’s special trade envoy. Eight years later, he failed to account for his continued ties to Epstein in a disastrous BBC interview, ending his career as a working member of the royal family.
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