Andrew takes legal action over search warrants relating to arrest

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is taking legal action against Thames Valley Police over his arrest in February.

The former Prince Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, in the wake of information that emerged from the Epstein files in the United States.

Mountbatten-Windsor's lawyers are challenging the search warrants used in Sandringham and at Royal Lodge in Windsor relating to his arrest, as first reported by the Telegraph.

Thames Valley Police confirmed: "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," a spokesperson for the force that carried out the arrest said.

Mountbatten-Windsor, who lost his titles as a prince and Duke of York over his connections to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has lodged a judicial review, challenging the legality of the search warrants.

A court hearing will be held on Thursday afternoon to consider this bid to quash the warrants, with the hearing set to begin in private.

The warrants had been issued by a judge at the Central Criminal Court on 18 February - the day before Mountbatten-Windsor had been arrested - and the legal challenge is against the chief constable of Thames Valley Police and the Central Criminal Court.

For several days after the arrest, police were seen searching Mountbatten-Windsor's property at Marsh Farm in Sandringham and at his former home, Royal Lodge, on the Windsor estate.

The arrest was carried out on his 66th birthday and led to him being taken to Aylsham police station.

A photograph captured his departure later that day, looking exhausted, after he was released under investigation.

Thames Valley Police says that its investigation is continuing.

Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein.

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