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Ex-Prince Andrew taking cops to court over Epstein-related search warrants
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is taking legal action against British police over search warrants conducted at his royal homes before his arrest earlier this year.
The private High Court case is set to begin Thursday, as the disgraced prince will challenge Thames Valley Police over the Jeffrey Epstein-related searches at his residences in Windsor and Sandringham, the judiciary confirmed.
The unprecedented royal move comes following Andrew’s arrest on Feb. 19 , his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his connection to the late billionaire sex offender.
The former Duke of York will ask the judge in the private meeting to determine whether the police force’s raids at his royal homes were lawful.
Andrew’s ties to Epstein files
Millions of Epstein emails were released by U.S. authorities in January, including exchanges between the former financier and prince that suggested Andrew had shared sensitive information with the accused sex trafficker.
“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,” a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said.
“As these legal proceedings are currently ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”
It marks the first time a Royal Family member has challenged the lawfulness of criminal proceedings in nearly 400 years, since the trial of Charles I in 1649.
Fitting, given that Andrew was the first British royal arrested in more than 350 years, taken away from the Sandringham Estate, in Norfolk, in an unmarked car to a nearby police station while plainclothes officers searched the property.
Eviction, then arrest
At the same time, police searched Royal Lodge at Windsor, his home of 22 years until he was ordered to leave by King Charles over Andrew’s association with Epstein.
His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, was also asked to move out of the Royal Lodge as her time with the sex trafficker was also heavily scrutinized.
Andrew was released under investigation 11 hours after his arrest.
The search at Sandringham ended the same day as his release, but the raid in Windsor lasted six days .
Sex with then-teen Virginia Giuffre
Andrew’s arrest and the ensuing police searches marked a new low for the scandal-plagued former prince, resulting in his royal titles being stripped, and the government even mulling passing a law to remove him from the line of succession.
Arguably Epstein’s most famous accuser, the late Virginia Giuffre, claimed in her posthumous memoirs that she was trafficked by Ghislaine Maxwell to have sex with Andrew multiple times when she was a teenager.
The former prince has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
In 2022, he settled a civil lawsuit brought by Giuffre but did not admit liability. Giuffre died by suicide last year.
—With files from AFP