Disgraced ex-British prince sues over Epstein raids

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was briefly detained in February as part of a probe into his dealings with the convicted sex offender

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, has taken Thames Valley Police to court over raids on his residences as part of an investigation into his dealings with Jeffrey Epstein.

The former British royal has challenged the legality of search warrants executed in February that saw him briefly placed in custody on suspicion of sharing confidential government information with the convicted American pedophile financier.

The former Duke of York has for years faced separate allegations of sexual misconduct. In 2022, he settled a civil lawsuit with American activist Virginia Giuffre out of court. According to media reports, the former prince had to pay £12 million ($16.3 million) in hush money to the woman, who accused him of raping her in 2001 when she was 17.

Giuffre took her own life in 2025. Her posthumously released memoirs prompted King Charles III to strip his brother of his remaining titles and to evict him from his royal residence last October.

Epstein was found dead in his prison cell while awaiting trial in 2019, in what was ruled a suicide.

On Monday, the press office for Britain’s judiciary announced that Mountbatten-Windsor’s legal claim will be heard in private on Thursday at the High Court.

“The case concerns an application by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for a judicial review to quash search warrants issued by a judge at the Central Criminal Court on 18 February 2026,” the judicial spokesperson said, as cited by the media.

The proceedings will be closed to the public at the request of Thames Valley Police, which also confirmed that they are “engaged in legal proceedings in relation to warrants previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court.”

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The former Duke of York previously admitted to associating with Epstein, but insisted that their friendship ended by late 2010 – which was subsequently proven false.

The former prince’s ties to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender came under renewed scrutiny following the release of the final tranche of the Epstein files by the US Justice Department in February. Some of the emails released indicated that Mountbatten-Windsor used his position as UK trade envoy, which he held from 2001 to 2011, to brief Epstein on investment opportunities in Afghanistan, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and China.

Thames Valley Police subsequently raided Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the Sandringham Estate and his former residence at Royal Lodge in Windsor. He was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, but was eventually released “under investigation” after 12 hours of questioning, and has denied any wrongdoing. He is the most senior member of the royal family to be arrested in modern history.

On Sunday, The Telegraph reported that the police investigation has stalled due to the refusal of the US Justice Department to hand over the unredacted versions of the Epstein files to the UK authorities.

In May, Thames Valley Police said the probe would also look into allegations of sexual misconduct by Mountbatten-Windsor.

The last tranche of the Epstein files included images appearing to show then-Prince Andrew kneeling over a woman lying on the ground, as well as a claim by an anonymous FBI witness that he attended “pedophile ring parties” in the mid-1990s in which minors as young as six were allegedly abused.

Some of the materials released by the Justice Department also appeared to corroborate allegations by Giuffre – one of the most prominent accusers of Epstein.

Commenting on the release of the last batch of the files in February, Russian presidential aide Kirill Dmitriev described the former prince and his “liberal Western friends” as “satanic.”