Police raids on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s royal properties were unlawful

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Thames Valley Police have agreed that search warrants that allowed officers to raid two of his royal properties earlier this year were unlawful, a High Court judge has said.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, who was not in attendance at the hearing, launched a legal claim against the force over the lawfulness of search warrants granted to them by a judge at the Old Bailey earlier this year.

The warrants allowed officers to raid his residence on the Sandringham Estate and his former Windsor home, Royal Lodge, in February.

Mr Justice Hilliard said a “significant error” was made in the application for the search warrants.

But the judge also said that “the fact that the search warrants were quashed does not bring an investigation to an end, or mean that the whole of the investigation was unlawful”.

He added the staff involved with the application will not be publicly named.

Thames Valley Police said its investigation into “alleged misconduct in public office by a man in his sixties from Norfolk remains ongoing”.

The former Duke was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office following allegations he shared sensitive information with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during his time as the UK’s trade envoy.

He was interviewed under caution before being released. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has always strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Misconduct in public office (MIPO) is a criminal offence that concerns serious wilful abuse, or neglect, of the power or responsibilities pertaining to the public office held.

Thames Valley Police previously said officers are continuing to assess a wide range of aspects covered under the offence as part of their investigation. The offence can include possible financial criminality, sex offences, fraud, corruption, and perverting the course of justice.

Mr Mountbatten-Windsor has rarely been seen in public after he was forced to leave Royal Lodge in February and move to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

The King stripped his brother of both his right to be a prince and his dukedom over his association with Epstein in October last year.