AP
London
Police who searched the properties of the former Prince Andrew and seized his property in the investigation into his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have agreed the search warrants were unlawful, a London judge said Thursday.
Justice Nicholas Hilliard said that the Thames Valley Police had made a significant error in applying for the warrant when they searched the properties of the former prince now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on February 19, on suspicion of misconduct in public office and police searched two of his homes. His lawyers asked the High Court judge to invalidate the warrants under which those searches were conducted.
Hilliard said the parties had agreed to invalidate the warrants before the hearing Thursday.
Mountbatten-Windsor was not in court for the hearing.
Stephens, of the Howard Kennedy firm in London, described the hearing as a preliminary skirmish in the broader legal battle.
“It’s the first step of Prince Andrew and his lawyers saying, Actually, this is tainted evidence. It was obtained inappropriately,” Stephens said. “Therefore it should be excluded from any criminal trial.”
King Charles III stripped Mountbatten-Windsor of his princely title last year as he sought to shield the rest of the royal family from the continuing fallout from his younger brother’s links to Epstein.
While Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, continues to receive a stipend from the king’s private funds, Buckingham Palace has made it clear that those funds may not be used to fund his effort to challenge the search warrants.
