‘He’s fighting back’: Why Andrew’s bizarre legal move will weigh heavily on the King

Analysis: One can only imagine the groan that came from King Charles III when he found out that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was taking legal action over the way he was arrested.

On October 30, it will have been one year since Andrew, 66, was stripped of his royal titles and honours by his brother the king and evicted from his home, Royal Lodge in Windsor, over his past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Months later, on February 19 − which was also his birthday − Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and questioned for 12 hours before being released under investigation.

Now, he is challenging that police action by Thames Valley Police, lodging a judicial review alleging the issuing of the search warrants were unlawful. Lawyers acting for the former prince will question whether detectives lawfully carried out raids on his homes at the Sandringham estate and Royal Lodge in connection to the Epstein files.

On Thursday, London’s High Court will hear Andrew’s legal claim before Mr Justice Hilliard. The force has applied to keep the details secret, restricting access to court documents.

After the scandal over Andrew’s relationship with Epstein appeared to go quiet mid-way through the year, the issue has re-emerged, bringing fresh nuisance to the royal family.

Read more

King will not pay for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s legal fight with police

For King Charles and the rest of the Windsors, it has been a year the royals would rather forget in many ways.

From Andrew’s arrest in February, to Earl Spencer launching a grenade via the publication of his book on Diana, the late Princess of Wales, to the surprise return to Britain by the Sussexes, the royals have had more than their fair share of public scrutiny and stress in 2026.

It would be especially hard for the king, with Andrew’s latest action likely to be weighing heavily on the monarch’s shoulders as he continues to fight his own battle: cancer. Though Charles was able to reduce his treatment earlier this year owing to the positive trajectory of his condition, he remains an active patient and has not been given the all clear yet.

Andrew’s legal claim was revealed on Monday and it has, so far, brought more bad headlines and, very likely, more headaches for the king.

Despite his younger brother’s public fall from grace, the monarch has shown a consistent duty of care to Andrew by providing him with a new home and a generous six-figure private allowance to use on security after the removal of his taxpayer-funded police protection.

For Andrew, this latest move has self-preservation written all over it. What exactly he is hoping to achieve is not clear, but what is obvious is he has too much time on his hands as he lives the life of a recluse in Sandringham.

With no official duties to keep him busy, Andrew reportedly fills his days with watching television and occasionally venturing outside. A run-in with an alleged stalker in May, while he was out walking his dogs, has made the former prince even more wary about leaving the privacy of his home, Marsh Farm.

A former senior police detective said Andrew now appeared to be “fighting back”, calling his legal bid “so unusual”.

“This is a bizarre move,” Martyn Underhill told The Times.

“There is some gamesmanship going on here. The threshold for a warrant is really quite low. The police will say it was necessary to search the properties without notice to seize devices and computers.”

He added: “In about 50 years in policing I’ve never known legal action against a warrant. It’s just so unusual. I could understand him suing for unlawful arrest and damage to his reputation, but you’d wait until the end of proceedings.

“It looks like a bit of an effort to try and change the dynamic and narrative, to show he’s fighting back.”

Andrew has denied any wrongdoing and no charges have been laid since his arrest in February.

But the past few years have seen him being found guilty in the court of public opinion and his latest move is being viewed by many as a last-minute attempt to clear his name or, at the very least, make it appear that what is happening to him is an injustice.

The Daily Mirror’s Russell Myers said it would have left the royal family “scratching their heads and wondering where this all going”.

“I don’t think Andrew cares about anyone but himself and this is the action of a desperate man,” he told Today.

In February, King Charles said the palace would co-operate with police if asked.

“They have our full and wholehearted support and co-operation,” a statement from King Charles, via Buckingham Palace, said.

“Let me state clearly: the law must take its course,” the monarch added.

Today, the palace has once again drawn a line between it and the actions of the former Duke of York.

A palace source said King Charles had no involvement in the judicial review application, and it had been “made clear” to Andrew that the six-figure allowance he receives from the king’s private purse should not be used to fund his High Court claim.

And the costs are likely to be enormous, raising questions about where Andrew will find the money.

Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter said the legal bill would be “eye-watering”.

“But he’s going to be very much on his own and he will have to proceed very cautiously,” she told Today Extra.

For a king who is an avid student of history, Charles’ time on the throne will be marked by moments he would rather not be remembered for.

Andrew became the first senior British royal to be arrested in nearly 400 years − since that of King Charles I in 1647. He has now become the first member of the royal family to challenge the lawfulness of criminal actions against them since Charles I, who was later beheaded for treason.

Unfortunately for the king, who has shown time and time again his determination to get on with the job at hand and serve his people, the Andrew saga that continues to draw so much public interest is refusing to go away.

And it is Andrew who has now put himself firmly back into the spotlight.