October 9, 2026— 1:01am
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London: A British judge has ruled in favour of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in a dispute over police searches of his homes earlier this year when they arrested the former prince on suspicion of misconduct due to his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The decision is a significant victory for the former prince nine months after his arrest made global headlines, and it raises questions over the evidence gathered and whether he may ever be charged.
Justice Nicholas Hilliard said on Thursday (London time) that the Thames Valley Police had relied on the wrong law when seeking approval from the courts for the search warrants days before the raids in February.
Mountbatten-Windsorapplied for the search warrants to be quashedand Thames Valley Police said it accepted that they had not been properly granted.
“We accept the position that the initial court’s decision to issue warrants under the specific piece of legislation used was incorrect and therefore these must be legally quashed,” a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said.
“Legal proceedings are currently ongoing to decide how material seized during the searches will be managed and whether we can lawfully retain it in support of our ongoing investigation.”
The police are seeking to ensure they can keep the evidence they gathered on the day to support their investigation, arguing that they are still pursuing the case and want more witnesses to come forward.
Thames Valley Police said its criminal investigation, which began after the release of millions of documents by the US Department of Justice relating to Epstein, was still ongoing.
Policearrested Mountbatten-Windsor on February 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his links to Epstein, held him for questioning for about 12 hours and searched his properties for evidence.
He went home from the interrogation and has made no comment since, but his allies have told the British media the police were wrong to make the arrest and made mistakes in gaining the search warrants.
