Former Prince Andrew is challenging the legality of British search warrants after police raided his royal homes and arrested him on Epstein-linked misconduct suspicions, with a private hearing set as the probe continues.
USA TODAY reported that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is taking legal action against Thames Valley Police over the warrants used in the searches and arrest earlier this year.
His lawyers are questioning whether the police action was lawful. A private hearing on the challenge is scheduled for Oct. 8.
The case puts a stripped former royal back in the spotlight over Jeffrey Epstein ties, confidential-government-information claims, and an investigation that has not produced formal charges.
Police arrested Andrew on Feb. 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The date was also his 66th birthday.
Officers spent days searching homes on the Sandringham Estate and at Windsor’s Royal Lodge. They removed documents and other items.
Andrew was taken to Norfolk’s Aylsham police station and questioned for about 11 to almost 12 hours. He has denied wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein and has not been formally charged.
Hours after the arrest, King Charles III released a short statement of support for the process.
"the law must take its course."
Misconduct in public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under British law.
The arrest followed revelations in Epstein material released by the U.S. Department of Justice. Roughly 3 million pages were part of that release.
Documents indicate Andrew allegedly passed confidential government information to Epstein while serving as U.K. trade envoy from 2001 to 2011.
Emails in the material appeared to show he kept regular contact with Epstein for more than two years after Epstein was found guilty of sex crimes. One image showed Andrew kneeling on all fours over an unidentified woman on the ground.
Andrew was stripped of his royal titles last year amid the Epstein links. He is the younger brother of King Charles III and is now formally known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of Epstein’s trafficking victims, said she was coerced as a teenager into repeatedly having sex with the former prince in 2001 as part of Epstein’s sex-trafficking ring. She died by suicide in 2025. Andrew has denied her allegations.
In May, investigators said they were assessing additional misconduct claims. Those included potential sexual crimes and a report that Epstein sent a second woman to Britain for a sexual encounter with Andrew.
Police said they were probing the allegation that the unnamed woman “was taken to an address in Windsor in 2010 for sexual purposes.”
The Telegraph first reported the legal challenge. It noted the move as the first such royal contest of the lawfulness of criminal proceedings since the trial of Charles I in 1649.
Warrants in the case were previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court. Andrew’s team is attacking their legality while the underlying investigation continues.
A Thames Valley Police spokesperson gave USA TODAY this statement on Oct. 5:
"Whilst our investigation into misconduct in public office continues, we are engaged in legal proceedings in relation to warrants previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court. As these legal proceedings are currently ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further."
No one is above the law, not even a former prince with palace addresses and old titles. Process still matters, and courts exist to test warrants when the state kicks in the doors. Accountability and clean procedure are not opposites; both are required if the public is expected to trust the result.
