High Court confirms Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor search warrants unlawful

• The warrants covered Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the Sandringham estate and his former Windsor residence, Royal Lodge.
• Thames Valley Police accepted they had been obtained under the wrong provision of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.
• The warrants were quashed in July; at a hearing on 8 October, a judge explained the legal error.
• A separate dispute over whether police can retain material seized in the searches is expected to be decided in 2027.

Mr Justice Hilliard said the warrants were unlawful because the court could not properly be satisfied that the material sought excluded legally privileged or confidential material connected with a person’s professional or official work. The warrants had been issued under section 8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act; the judge said a lawful warrant in these circumstances could only have been issued under section 9.¹²

The distinction matters because the ruling concerns the legal basis for the searches, not whether the allegations against Mountbatten-Windsor are true. He was arrested on 19 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, after allegations that he shared sensitive information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as the UK’s trade envoy. He denies wrongdoing.²

The warrants were issued on 18 February, and officers searched the two properties the next day. They seized documents and electronic devices. The High Court quashed the warrants on 22 July; the October hearing confirmed the agreement between Mountbatten-Windsor and Thames Valley Police and set out why the warrants were unlawful.¹²

The seized material’s status remains unresolved. Thames Valley Police has applied to retain it under a different legal provision, and Mountbatten-Windsor opposes that application. The court is expected to decide the issue next year.¹²

Hilliard said quashing the warrants did not end the investigation or make the whole investigation unlawful. Thames Valley Police has said the investigation is continuing; in May, it said it was working with the Crown Prosecution Service and the US Department of Justice and speaking with witnesses.¹³

Footnotes

1. The Guardian, “Search warrants used in Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor raids were unlawful, court rules” ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. The Independent, “Police raids on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s royal properties were unlawful” ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. Thames Valley Police, “Thames Valley Police is continuing an investigation into misconduct in public office” ↩