Ex-prince Andrew search warrants quashed but UK police probe continues

Disgraced former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor won a legal challenge over searches of his royal homes after police agreed the warrants they obtained were "unlawful", a High Court judge has said.

However, the London court must still decide whether police can continue to hold items seized in the raids, with both the judge and police stressing the investigation remained ongoing.

King Charles III's brother was arrested on his 66th birthday in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to links to late United States sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He was released the same day, after hours of police questioning, but has remained under investigation. He has denied all wrongdoing in connection with the American financier.

Thames Valley Police (TVP) searched his former home in Windsor, west of London, and Sandringham, eastern England, but it has now emerged Andrew launched a legal challenge over the legality of the warrants used.

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In reporting the challenge, the Daily Telegraph noted that it was the first time a member of Britain's royal family has challenged the lawfulness of criminal proceedings against them since the trial of Charles I in 1649.

In the first detailed public disclosures about Andrew's action, judge Nicholas Hilliard on Thursday revealed the police had agreed "the search warrants were unlawful".

But "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. TVP are continuing with their investigations," he added.

Hilliard said he would decide "in due course" on a June legal application by police to retain property obtained under an unlawful warrant "if it would be lawful to seize the property" under a new warrant.

"There would be little point in handing property back if it could then simply be lawfully seized under some other provision," he explained.

His 10-page order noted that Andrew "opposes the application" to keep the seized items, with a private court hearing on the matter to be held next year.

In a statement, the police said they accepted "the initial court's decision to issue warrants under the specific piece of legislation used was incorrect and therefore these must be legally quashed."

But it added "legal proceedings are currently ongoing to decide how material seized during the searches will be managed and whether we can lawfully retain it in support of our ongoing investigation".