King Charles Will Not Pay for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's Fight Over Arrest Warrants

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has asked a British court to throw out the search warrants behind his February arrest, and King Charles will not pay for the challenge.

The legal action against Thames Valley Police, the force that polices the area west of London, was reported on Oct. 5, 2026 by The Telegraph. It seeks what Britain calls a judicial review, a judge's check on whether a public body acted lawfully. Here the request centers on warrants issued the day before his arrest.

Andrew, 66 and the king's younger brother, was arrested on Feb. 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office. That is the British offense for a public official accused of abusing official power. He was released after 11 hours that night and remains under investigation, according to the BBC.

The warrants were tied to searches of his royal homes earlier in 2026, as reported by USA Today. His lawyers now want a court to quash them. Police have not detailed the material seized.

A palace source told Town & Country that Charles will not fund the case. The same source told the magazine it has been made clear to Andrew that the king's private support should not be used for the judicial review. The source also told the magazine the palace has no role in the strategy or actions of his legal battles.

That private support covers Andrew's life on the Sandringham Estate, the king's private country estate in Norfolk. A separate report described it as an annual stipend of undisclosed size from the king's private funds. Those payments do not come from the Sovereign Grant, the taxpayer payment for official royal duties.

Andrew stepped back from royal duties in 2019 after an interview about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. He was stripped of all his titles by the king before the February arrest. After the arrest, Charles said "the law must take its course," according to Reuters.

The arrest was reported to relate to his past work as a British trade envoy and allegations that he forwarded sensitive government documents to Epstein. Andrew also receives a Royal Navy pension reported at about £20,000 a year, about $26,000. In 2022, he settled a civil sexual assault lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre for what was understood to be $15 million, around £12 million.