A High Court judge has ruled that search warrants used by police to raid two properties linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were unlawful, delivering a significant legal setback to the investigation while making clear that the former prince remains under scrutiny.
Mr Justice Hilliard said an agreement had been reached between Mr Mountbatten-Windsor and Thames Valley Police that the warrants used to search Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate and Royal Lodge in Windsor should be quashed.
The ruling overturns the legal basis on which police carried out the searches in February, but does not bring the underlying investigation to an end.
At a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice on Thursday, which Mr Mountbatten-Windsor did not attend, the judge stressed that the decision should not be interpreted as a finding that the wider police investigation was unlawful.
“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,” he said.
The ruling follows an extraordinary sequence of events earlier this year.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office on February 19, his 66th birthday. He was held for 12 hours before being released on police bail and has never been charged with an offence.
He has consistently denied wrongdoing.
The police investigation subsequently led officers to search two properties associated with him, including Wood Farm in Norfolk and his former residence, Royal Lodge, in Berkshire.
The High Court ruling now raises questions over the legal authority used to obtain the warrants and the future of material seized during the searches.
Thames Valley Police said the warrants, granted on February 18, had been quashed because the legislation under which they were issued had been incorrectly applied.
“The agreement that led to the quashing of the warrants relates specifically to a decision made by the court regarding the legal basis for these and is not a judgement on our ongoing investigation,” the force said.
It added that officers had presented the court with the necessary information and paperwork and had followed the legal processes they believed applied at the time.
“We accept the position that the initial court’s decision to issue warrants under the specific piece of legislation used was incorrect and therefore these must be legally quashed,” the force said.
The dispute has now moved to a second legal battleground: what happens to the material obtained during the searches.
Police said legal proceedings were continuing to determine how the seized material should be managed and whether it could lawfully be retained as part of the investigation.
The distinction is potentially important for both sides.
For Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, the quashing of the warrants represents a substantial challenge to the legal foundation of the searches and may affect the status of evidence gathered during them.
For investigators, however, the High Court has not ruled that the underlying allegations are false, nor has it ordered the investigation to end.
Thames Valley Police said its investigation into alleged misconduct in public office by a man in his 60s from Norfolk “remains ongoing”.
“We continue to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry to effectively and fairly progress this investigation,” the force said.
The case therefore leaves the former royal with an important legal victory but no final resolution.
The warrants have been declared unlawful. The investigation has not.
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