Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Challenges Police Search Warrants After February Arrest
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is asking a court to throw out the search warrants behind his February arrest.
The younger brother of King Charles has started a legal challenge against Thames Valley Police, the force that covers the area west of London including Windsor. He is seeking what is called a judicial review in Britain, a process in which a judge checks whether a public body acted lawfully.
Police arrested Mountbatten-Windsor on Feb. 19, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office. That is an allegation that a person holding a public role abused that position. Officers questioned him for 11 hours, according to NPR. He was released under investigation. No charges have been filed. That status does not mean he was cleared.
The challenge focuses on warrants issued Feb. 18, the day before the arrest. The warrants came from the Central Criminal Court, the London court that handles serious criminal cases. They allowed detectives to search properties at Sandringham, the monarch's country estate in Norfolk, and Royal Lodge, Mountbatten-Windsor's home in Windsor, according to The Daily Telegraph.
The Telegraph first reported the legal action. Both Thames Valley Police and the Judicial Office, the administrative office that supports judges in England and Wales, have confirmed the challenge to media, as reported by Town & Country. Mountbatten-Windsor has been granted permission to argue that the searches were unlawful.
Judicial reviews do not decide guilt or innocence. They focus on whether proper legal process was followed. An order quashing the warrants would cancel them. It would not by itself end the wider investigation.
A hearing is set for Thursday at 2 p.m. At that hearing, police will apply to restrict public access to certain court documents.
Police say the underlying investigation is still active. The force said the proceedings relate to warrants previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court, and that its investigation into misconduct in public office continues. The February arrest came after the force said it was assessing a complaint about the alleged sharing of confidential material, according to the BBC. Reporting has linked the arrest to files connected to Jeffrey Epstein, the American financier and convicted sex offender, as noted by Reuters.
