King Charles's younger brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after being stripped of his royal titles, has launched legal action against Thames Valley Police over his February arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to the Jeffrey Epstein files investigation.
A palace source said King Charles has insisted his private funds must not be used to pay for the judicial review, a striking intervention that underlines how far the former prince has fallen from the institution that once protected him. A private hearing is set for October 8 at the High Court, where the lawfulness of the police action will come under scrutiny.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on February 19, his 66th birthday, after emails released in the Epstein files suggested he had shared sensitive information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as Britain's trade envoy between 2001 and 2011. He was questioned for around 11 hours while detectives searched his residence on the Sandringham Estate and his former home at Royal Lodge in Windsor, acting on warrants whose legality is now being challenged.
He has asked a judge to determine whether the search warrants that allowed those raids were lawful. Thames Valley Police said its investigation into misconduct in public office continues and that it would be inappropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing. At Thursday's hearing, the force will seek to restrict access to court documents, while his lawyers push for transparency.
The challenge is historically remarkable. It is the first time a member of the royal family has questioned the lawfulness of criminal proceedings against them since the trial of Charles I in 1649. The former prince was forced to quit royal duties in 2019 and was stripped of his titles last October. He denies wrongdoing, says he regrets the friendship with Epstein, and has not been charged.
For the King, the insistence that no private royal money fund the case draws a clear line between the Crown and his brother's legal battles. For Mountbatten-Windsor, the judicial review is a high-stakes gamble that could either vindicate him or deepen one of the gravest crises the modern monarchy has faced, with the Epstein files continuing to cast a long shadow.
The King's reported insistence on the funding question is a clear signal of the palace's position. Since the Epstein scandal engulfed his brother, Charles has moved steadily to distance the Crown from him, culminating in the removal of his titles last October. The judicial review will be funded, if at all, from Mountbatten-Windsor's own resources. The October 8 hearing is expected to set the timetable for the months ahead, as one of the most constitutionally sensitive legal battles in living memory gets under way.