Andrew launches legal action against cops after police raided royal homes & arrested former prince on 66th birthday

ANDREW Mountbatten-Windsor has reportedly launched legal action against the police after they raided royal homes and arrested him on his birthday. The former Duke of York, 66, was detained by Thames Valley Police eight months ago amid a storm of publicity as the Epstein files were dominating headlines. He has now asked a judge to determine if the force’s action was lawful. Mountbatten-Windsor has lodged a judicial review in connection with the search warrants that enabled cops to raid his home on the Sandringham Estate and his former residence Royal Lodge in Windsor. It is thought to be the first time a member of the Royal Family has challenged the lawfulness of criminal proceedings against them since the trial of Charles I in 1649. Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested in February at Marsh Farm, Norfolk, on his 66th birthday. Read More on the Royals He was then taken to Aylsham police station where he was questioned for around 12 hours on suspicion of misconduct in public office, before eventually being released under investigation. Mountbatten-Windsor has strongly denied any wrongdoing. Detectives also spent days searching Marsh Farm and Royal Lodge, taking documents and other items as they investigated. It is believed his legal team want to see if the search warrants, granted by an Old Bailey judge after an application from Thames Valley Police, were legal. Most read in Royals Mountbatten-Windsor has asked for permission to judicially review the decision and his application has been granted by a High Court judge. There is to be a private hearing at the High Court later this week to see whether to release certain court documents relating to the judicial review, according to The Telegraph. The former prince’s arrest came in the wake of the publication of documents from the Epstein files which suggested he may have shared sensitive information with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while he was the UK’s trade envoy between 2001 and 2011. It’s alleged Mountbatten-Windsor forwarded sensitive reports to Epstein about visits he made to Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam and China and allegedly sent him a confidential briefing note on investment opportunities in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Mountbatten-Windsor is being investigated on suspicion of misconduct in public office. There is some suggestion the police investigation has run into difficulty after the US department of justice refused to hand over the unredacted versions of the Epstein files. A formal letter of request for access to the material could take more than a year to get a response and there is no guarantee the authorities in the US will comply. Pals of Mountbatten-Windsor say he feels like he is “living in limbo” as he waits for the investigation to reach a conclusion. Thames Valley Police said in May the investigation would also look at allegations of sexual misconduct and appealed for people to come forward with information. He is the most senior royal figure to be arrested in modern times. Friends of King Charles’ younger brother suspect the decision to arrest him at his home on his birthday was orchestrated to cause maximum humiliation. Buckingham Palace has said the monarch did not receive any warning of the arrest. In a statement from King Charles at the time said “the law must take its course” and expressing his “deepest concern” about the allegations. “What now follows is the full, fair and proper process by which this issue is investigated in the appropriate manner and by the appropriate authorities,” he said. While it is thought the King has not had any contact with his younger brother since, the Princess Royal and the Duke of Edinburgh, have been supportive. Lord Mandelson was also arrested around the same time, after claims arose that while he was working as a government minister, he had passed documents to Epstein. Mandelson resigned from the Labour Party and left the House of Lords after the files appeared to show that he had leaked market-sensitive information while a minister in Gordon Brown’s administration. He was also sacked as the British ambassador to Washington in September. Lord Mandelson has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing. In a Newsnight interview in 2019 Mountbatten-Windsor claimed he had last seen Epstein in December 2010 to tell him he was breaking off their friendship. However, documents released by the US department of justice indicated that on Christmas Eve that year he had messaged Epstein and sent him a confidential briefing about investment opportunities in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, where reconstruction was being funded by the UK government. In October 2010, he had forwarded reports of his visits to Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Shenzhen in China written by Amit Patel, his then special assistant. The reports were forwarded on by Mountbatten-Windsor to Epstein just five minutes after he had received them. The Sun Online has contacted Thames Valley Police for comment.