Ex-prince Andrew raid warrants ruled unlawful

Former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor won a UK legal challenge over searches of his royal homes after police agreed the warrants they obtained were unlawful, a High Court judge disclosed Thursday.

The court in London must still decide whether Thames Valley Police can continue to hold items seized in the raids, and both the judge and police said the investigation remains ongoing.

King Charles III's brother was arrested in February, on his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his links to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He was released the same day after hours of questioning and has denied all wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein.

Thames Valley Police searched his former home in Windsor, west of London, and Sandringham in eastern England. Judge Nicholas Hilliard said police had agreed “the search warrants were unlawful”.

But Hilliard said the warrants being quashed did not end the investigation or mean the whole investigation was unlawful. He said police are continuing their inquiries.

The judge is still to decide on a police application to retain property obtained under an unlawful warrant if it would be lawful to seize the property under a new warrant. He said there would be little point returning property if it could simply be lawfully seized under another provision.

Hilliard's order said Andrew opposes the application to keep the seized items. A private court hearing on that issue is due to be held next year.

Thames Valley Police said it accepted that the initial court decision to issue warrants under the legislation used was incorrect and that the warrants must be legally quashed. The force said legal proceedings are continuing over how seized material will be managed and whether it can be retained for the ongoing investigation.