King Charles’ brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has filed a lawsuit against British police over a search warrant issued before his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office earlier this year, following revelations from the Epstein file in the US.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, asked a judge to decide whether the actions taken against him by Thames Valley Police and the Central Criminal Court earlier this year were lawful. The case against the police was first reported by Britain’s Telegraph newspaper.
He has applied for a judicial review into search warrants executed at his home on the Sandringham Estate and his former home at Royal Lodge, Windsor.
A court hearing will be held Thursday. Thames Valley Police confirmed to CNN on Monday that they were “taking legal proceedings in relation to a warrant previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court”, but declined to comment further as the legal proceedings are ongoing.
CNN has also reached out to the UK Ministry of Justice for comment.
A royal source said the palace had no role in determining Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s strategy or actions. Private money from King Charles to support his brother and keep him at Sandringham should not be used in the legal challenge, the official added.
The former Duke of York became the first senior royal in centuries to be arrested in February, the latest extraordinary development in a years-long scandal over his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which has tarnished his reputation and thrown the royal family into crisis.
On February 19, on his 66th birthday, he was taken into police custody at his new home on his brother’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, eastern England. He was taken to Aylsham Police Station where he was interrogated for approximately 12 hours before being released under investigation. No charges were filed. Police said the investigation is still ongoing.
Former Prince Andrew takes British police to court over Epstein arrest
King Charles’ brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has filed a lawsuit against British police in connection with search warrants executed at his home on the Sandringham Estate and his former residence at Royal Lodge, Windsor.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest came after the force previously announced it was investigating whether the former prince shared classified information with Mr Epstein during his 10 years as Britain’s trade envoy.
Mountbatten-Windsor strongly denied any wrongdoing in his dealings with Epstein and denied any personal benefit from his role as trade envoy, according to British media reports.
He resigned from royal duties in 2019 following a damning interview with the BBC over his friendship with Epstein. But headlines related to the late financier continued to haunt the disgraced royal family. In 2025, King Charles stripped his brother of his princely title following the public outcry following the release of a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein accuser who alleges Mountbatten-Windsor sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager.
Mr Giuffre (whom the crown prince claims he had never met) died by suicide in April 2025 at the age of 41. In addition to denying all charges against him, Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor has previously maintained that he never witnessed or suspected any of the acts that Mr. Epstein is accused of.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that legal action went beyond Mountbatten-Windsor’s pre-arrest search warrant.
