Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has secured a significant legal victory after the High Court ruled that search warrants used by police to raid two of his homes were unlawfully issued.
Mr Justice Hilliard said at the Royal Courts of Justice on Thursday that the warrants, which allowed officers to search Andrew's former residence Royal Lodge in Windsor and his property on the Sandringham estate in February, had not been lawfully granted and should be quashed. He found that a significant error had been made in both the application for and the granting of the warrants.
Thames Valley Police accepted that the warrants had been issued under the wrong statutory provision of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984. The force had applied for warrants under both section 8 and section 9 at an Old Bailey hearing the day before the searches, but the judge granted only section 8 warrants. The High Court has now found that a lawful warrant could only have been issued under section 9, which covers material likely to include legally privileged or confidential business records.
The judge stressed, however, that the ruling does not end the criminal investigation. The fact that the search warrants were quashed does not bring an investigation to an end, or mean that the whole of the investigation was unlawful, he said. Officers seized documentary material and electronic devices during searches that lasted several days, and the judge noted there would be little point in handing the material back if it could be lawfully seized under some other provision.
Thames Valley Police has launched a separate legal bid to retain the seized material, which Andrew opposes. A private hearing on that application is expected in 2027. The force said its investigation into alleged misconduct in public office by a man in his 60s from Norfolk remains ongoing.
Andrew's action marked the first time a member of the royal family has challenged the lawfulness of criminal proceedings in this way since the trial of Charles I in 1649. The former Duke of York was arrested on his 66th birthday in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, amid material in the Epstein Files suggesting he had shared sensitive information with the financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during his time as Britain's trade envoy between 2001 and 2011. He was questioned for 12 hours and released under investigation. He has not been charged and denies wrongdoing.
Andrew was formally stripped of his Prince title and HRH style in November 2025 because of the scandal, and will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. King Charles, his older brother, has insisted that the law must take its course. Reports have also said the King paid £1.8 million to cover the cost of the former prince's departure from Royal Lodge.