Ex-Prince Andrew Scores Court Victory as Search Warrants Conducted After Epstein-Linked Arrest Deemed Unlawful: 'This Is Tainted Evidence'
Ex-Prince Andrew scored a major win in court.
Oct. 8 2026, Published 4:00 p.m. ET
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scored a major legal victory after successfully challenging the search warrants police used to raid his home following his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office, with the warrants ruled unlawful by a London judge, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
In a stunning courtroom blow to Thames Valley Police, Justice Nicholas Hilliard ruled on Thursday, October 8, that investigators had made a major blunder in securing permission to search properties linked to the disgraced former prince.
Seach Warrants That Led to Raids on Andrew's Homes Get Quashed
The search warrants were initially looking for evidence related to Andrew Windsor's alleged misconduct in public office related to Epstein.
Andrew's legal team moved to have the police raids declared unlawful, but the courtroom showdown was effectively over before it began. Hilliard revealed that both sides had already agreed to scrap the search warrants ahead of Thursday's hearing.
Cops descended on the disgraced former Duke of York's Wood Farm home on the Sandringham estate and his former royal digs at Windsor's Royal Lodge on February 19, turning both properties upside down as part of the investigation connected to his arrest.
The dramatic raids followed a bombshell late-January dump of Jeffrey Epstein files by the U.S. Department of Justice, which raised explosive allegations that Andrew had secretly funneled confidential government documents to the convicted s-- offender during his decade-long stint as a U.K. trade envoy from 2001 to 2011.
Police Investigation Not Ending
The investigation into Ex-Prince Andrew's suspicion of misconduct in public office is still ongoing.
While Andrew wasn't at the hearing, legal expert and founder of the London law firm Howard Kennedy LLP, Mark Stephens, warned the courtroom victory could be just the opening salvo in a much bigger legal war, with the ex-duke's attorneys potentially using the botched searches to try to get damaging evidence tossed out of any future criminal trial.
"It's the first step of Prince Andrew and his lawyers saying, 'Actually, this is tainted evidence. It was obtained inappropriately,'" Stephens explained. "Therefore it should be excluded from any criminal trial."
The legal eagle noted that the ruling "opens a door to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s lawyers to start to chisel away at some of the fruits of that unlawful warrant."
However, Stephens added, "the fact that the search warrants were quashed does not bring an investigation to an end, or mean that the whole of the investigation was unlawful."
Investigators Reportedly Hoping to Widen Andrew Mountbatten Windsor Probe
Andrew Windsor has never been charged with anything related to underage Epstein trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre.
Police initially zeroed in on allegations that Andrew leaked sensitive government information to Epstein, but investigators later signaled they could widen their probe to dig into other potential wrongdoing.
Andrew was infamously accused by one of Epstein's trafficking victims, Virginia Giuffre, of sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old in 2001.
She sued him in civil court in August 2021, accusing Queen Elizabeth II's second son of sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
While Andrew vehemently denied the allegations, the two ended up settling the case out of court in February 2022 for an undisclosed sum.
Ex-Prince Andrew's Fallout After Virginia Giuffre's Posthumous Accusations
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King Charles stirpped his brother of his birthright 'prince' title after the publication of Giuffre's posthumous memoir.
Giuffre's posthumous October 2025 memoir, Nobody's Girl, reignited the scandal surrounding Andrew, laying bare disturbing new details of her alleged sexual encounters with the "entitled" former prince.
The book's explosive claims finally led King Charles III to strip his brother of all royal titles and privileges and evict him from the Royal Lodge.
Andrew still receives a reported $1 million stipend annually from the king for his living expenses, including round-the-clock security and a personal chef.
Buckingham Palace has reportedly drawn a hard line, making it clear Andrew is forbidden from dipping into the financial handouts to bankroll his fight against the police raids. However, it remains unclear whether the scandal-plagued former royal has defied the warning.
