Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is asking a British court to examine the legality of search warrants issued before his February arrest over allegations that he leaked confidential government documents to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a U.K. trade representative.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
LONDON — Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles III, has launched a legal challenge against police over search warrants connected to his February arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office involving alleged disclosures of government documents to Jeffrey Epstein.
Britain’s Judicial Office confirmed Monday that a hearing is scheduled for Thursday after Mountbatten-Windsor asked a judge to examine the lawfulness of the warrants that preceded his arrest.
The former prince is seeking to have the warrants quashed, according to a Reuters report on the legal proceedings.
Thames Valley Police, which carried out the February arrest, confirmed that it is involved in legal proceedings concerning warrants obtained from the Central Criminal Court, commonly known as the Old Bailey.
The police force declined to comment further while the matter is before the court.
The Judicial Office said Thursday’s hearing will begin in private and also concerns an effort by police to restrict access to court documents related to the case.
The legal action does not directly determine whether Mountbatten-Windsor committed the conduct under investigation. Instead, it challenges the legal basis on which police obtained authority to conduct searches connected to the inquiry.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office after investigators began examining allegations that he provided confidential British government material to Epstein while serving as the United Kingdom’s special representative for international trade and investment.
He held that role from 2001 until 2011.
Police have not charged Mountbatten-Windsor, and the investigation remains ongoing.
He has denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and has said he regrets maintaining a friendship with the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.
His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest court action.
Mountbatten-Windsor was questioned by detectives for much of the day following his arrest in February.
A Reuters photograph taken as he left the police station showed him appearing visibly shaken after the questioning.
The arrest represented another dramatic development in years of scrutiny over his association with Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor stepped away from official royal duties in 2019 after criticism of his relationship with Epstein intensified.
Further disclosures about that relationship continued to damage his public standing and eventually contributed to King Charles stripping him of remaining titles and honors last October.
Epstein was arrested in the United States in July 2019 on federal sex-trafficking charges involving underage girls. He was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell the following month in what authorities ruled a suicide.
The allegations now facing Mountbatten-Windsor concern a different aspect of their relationship: whether confidential material obtained through his government role was improperly disclosed to Epstein.
British investigators have not publicly detailed the full contents of the documents allegedly involved or established precisely when the suspected disclosures occurred during Mountbatten-Windsor’s decade as a trade envoy.
His attempt to invalidate the warrants could affect how police are permitted to use evidence gathered during searches, but a successful challenge would not necessarily end the broader investigation.
Nick Vamos, a partner at the law firm Peters & Peters who is not involved in the case, said police could potentially retain or reacquire material even if a court found a technical defect in the original warrants.
“Even if there was some technical flaw with the original warrants, if that can be remedied then the Crown Court may simply allow the police to keep hold of all the material anyway,” Vamos said.
The distinction means Thursday’s proceedings could focus primarily on whether investigators followed proper legal procedures rather than on the underlying allegation against Mountbatten-Windsor.
British courts can quash search warrants when they conclude that statutory requirements were not satisfied, that information presented to the issuing judge was inadequate or that the scope of a warrant was legally defective.
The exact grounds Mountbatten-Windsor’s lawyers are advancing have not been publicly disclosed.
The Judicial Office has provided only limited information about the application.
The additional effort by Thames Valley Police to limit access to documents adds another layer of secrecy to a case involving both the royal family and one of the most notorious criminal scandals of recent decades.
Thursday’s hearing is expected to begin behind closed doors, although portions could later be heard publicly depending on the court’s rulings concerning disclosure.
The case has generated renewed scrutiny of Mountbatten-Windsor’s years as Britain’s trade representative.
During that period, he traveled internationally on behalf of the British government, promoted U.K. commercial interests and maintained contact with political leaders, diplomats and business executives.
Questions have persisted for years about the extent of his dealings with Epstein during and after that period.
Mountbatten-Windsor has previously said he ended his association with Epstein after recognizing that continuing the relationship had been a mistake.
His widely criticized 2019 BBC interview about Epstein ultimately accelerated his withdrawal from royal life.
Days after the interview, he announced that he would step back from public duties because the controversy had become a “major disruption” to the royal family’s work.
The repercussions continued afterward as additional allegations and documents involving Epstein became public.
Mountbatten-Windsor later reached a civil settlement with Virginia Giuffre, who had accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
He denied Giuffre’s allegations, and the settlement contained no admission of liability.
The current criminal investigation is separate from that civil case and focuses on allegations involving government information.
The February arrest represented a significant escalation because it placed Mountbatten-Windsor under formal criminal investigation over actions allegedly committed while he held an official public position.
Misconduct in public office is a common-law offense in England and Wales involving serious abuse of public responsibilities by an officeholder.
No determination has been made that Mountbatten-Windsor committed such an offense.
Police must still determine whether sufficient evidence exists to recommend criminal charges, after which prosecutors would decide whether the evidence meets the legal threshold for prosecution.
The legal battle over the warrants could now influence that process.
If Mountbatten-Windsor succeeds, the court could determine that police improperly obtained authorization for one or more searches. Depending on the ruling, investigators could face restrictions over material seized under those warrants.
If the challenge fails, police could continue using the material under the existing authorizations while the investigation proceeds.
Either outcome would leave the central question unresolved: whether Mountbatten-Windsor improperly provided government information to Epstein while representing Britain abroad.
Thames Valley Police have given no indication of when their investigation might conclude.
For the royal family, the proceedings ensure continued public attention on a controversy that has already resulted in Mountbatten-Windsor’s removal from official duties and loss of his remaining royal honors.
For Mountbatten-Windsor, Thursday’s hearing marks his first major attempt to challenge the police investigation through the courts.
The initial proceedings will focus not on Epstein himself, but on whether British police lawfully obtained the warrants that allowed investigators to search for evidence connecting the former prince to alleged government-document leaks.
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