Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has filed a lawsuit against Thames Valley Police over his February arrest connected to his alleged ties with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The man formerly known as Prince Andrew asked a U.K. judge to determine whether officers acted lawfully toward him when they took him into custody nearly eight months ago.
Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles III, was arrested in connection to his documented links with Epstein, who died in 2019.
The lawsuit centers on allegations that searches of his homes may have broken the law, escalating a legal dispute that has drawn widespread public attention across both the U.K. and United States.
The former Duke of York has been granted permission to challenge whether Thames Valley Police acted lawfully over the searches relating to his February arrest, according to the Telegraph.
“Mr Mountbatten-Windsor asked for permission to judicially review the decision earlier this year and his application was subsequently granted by a High Court judge,” according to The Telegraph.
“The Telegraph has learnt there is to be a private hearing at the High Court later this week to determine whether to release certain court documents relating to the judicial review.”
Files released by the Justice Department earlier this year, drawn from the federal probe into Epstein, showed Mountbatten-Windsor apparently sharing confidential information with Epstein while serving as the U.K.’s special representative for international trade and investment.
When police arrested Mountbatten-Windsor earlier this year, he became the first British royal to receive such a fate in nearly 400 years, marking an extraordinary moment in the country’s history.
Investigators released Mountbatten-Windsor after 12 hours of questioning, with police saying at the time he remained under investigation.
Mountbatten-Windsor had a longstanding relationship with the disgraced financier, and the late Virginia Giuffre alleged that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to Mountbatten-Windsor, who forced her to have sex with him three times, including when she was 17.
Mountbatten-Windsor has denied those allegations and settled a civil lawsuit Giuffre brought against him in 2022, while Giuffre herself died by suicide in April 2025.
The judicial review proceeding represents a significant legal counteroffensive by Mountbatten-Windsor, signaling his intent to fight back against the investigation that has consumed his public standing.
