Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is taking legal action against Thames Valley Police over his arrest in February.<\/b><\/p>\n
The former Prince Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, in the wake of information that emerged from the Epstein files in the United States.<\/p>\n
Mountbatten-Windsor’s lawyers are challenging the search warrants used in Sandringham and at Royal Lodge in Windsor relating to his arrest, as first reported by the Telegraph.<\/p>\n
Thames Valley Police confirmed: “We are engaged in legal proceedings in relation to warrants previously obtained from the Central Criminal Court.”<\/p>\n
“As these legal proceedings are currently ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further,” a spokesperson for the force that carried out the arrest said.<\/p>\n
Mountbatten-Windsor, who lost his titles as a prince and Duke of York over his connections to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has lodged a judicial review, challenging the legality of the search warrants.<\/p>\n
A court hearing will be held on Thursday afternoon to consider this bid to quash the warrants, with the hearing set to begin in private.<\/p>\n
The warrants had been issued by a judge at the Central Criminal Court on 18 February – the day before Mountbatten-Windsor had been arrested – and the legal challenge is against the chief constable of Thames Valley Police and the Central Criminal Court.<\/p>\n
For several days after the arrest, police were seen searching Mountbatten-Windsor’s property at Marsh Farm in Sandringham and at his former home, Royal Lodge, on the Windsor estate.<\/p>\n
The arrest was carried out on his 66th birthday and led to him being taken to Aylsham police station.<\/p>\n
A photograph captured his departure later that day, looking exhausted, after he was released under investigation.<\/p>\n
Thames Valley Police says that its investigation is continuing.<\/p>\n
Mountbatten-Windsor has consistently denied any wrongdoing in his associations with Epstein.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"