Ex-prince Andrew search warrants quashed after police accept legal error

LONDON: British police on Thursday said that search warrants they secured to search properties linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had been issued unlawfully and must be quashed, but said the investigation into King Charles’ younger brother was ongoing.

Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in February, linked to his relationship with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and searches were carried out at properties in Sandringham, eastern England, and Windsor.

The arrest of the senior royal, eighth in line to the throne, was unprecedented in modern times and a Reuters photo of the ashen-faced former prince leaving the police station made front pages around the world.

However, subsequently Mountbatten-Windsor, who has not made any public comment since his arrest, launched a legal challenge and applied for the search warrants to be quashed.