Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is the second royal in just four years to sue the British state, creating PR complications for his brother, King Charles III, who provides him funding. Thames Valley police arrested Mountbatten-Windsor in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office and searched two properties—his current home at Marsh Farm, in Sandringham, and his former home, Royal Lodge, in Windsor. The investigation related to allegations he had leaked confidential information to Jeffrey Epstein and was triggered by emails in the Epstein files, released by the U.S.
Department of Justice earlier this year. Now Mountbatten-Windsor has filed a judicial review at the High Court, in London, seeking to challenge those search warrants, issued by the Central Criminal Court, often referred to in Britain as the Old Bailey. It comes after Prince Harry sued the British government in 2022 over a decision to remove his police protection team.
The Duke of Sussex lost in May 2025 after an unsuccessful appeal. Ingrid Seward, author of My Mother and I, told Newsweek: "I think there is a risk that Charles winds up looking a bit weak but with everything going on at the moment I don't think it's at the top of his agenda to worry about whether he's looking weak. Andrew is his brother." To .
Mountbatten-Windsor's move raised questions about where Andrew will get the money from to pay his legal team. Charles last year forced Mountbatten-Windsor to leave his former mansion Royal Lodge and move to Sandringham, the royals' private estate in the east of England. At the time, it was also disclosed that the king was providing his brother with some financial support.
Newsweek has been told it has been made clear to Mountbatten-Windsor that he is not to spend that money on the judicial review. There has been no confirmation one way or the other about whether he complied with the instruction. Seward suggested Charles might be willing to tolerate some bad PR due to the bonds of family in relation to Andrew, his brother, just as he had previously in relation to the case brought by Prince Harry, his son.
"He looked weak over Harry as well, but that's his son," Seward said. "I think the king has enormous sympathy from most people in the U.K. because most people do have awkward children and awkward brothers." Harry filed the lawsuit in the hope of overturning the Home Office decision to strip him of his round-the-clock police protection team. However, the Court of Appeal ruled the Government's decision was lawfully made.
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