The U.K. police force whose officers raided Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's home has accepted that the warrants issued for the searches were unlawful.
On Thursday, a High Court judge said that the former Prince Andrew and Thames Valley Police chiefs have agreed that the warrants, relating to two raids of his properties earlier this year, were not in order.
The shamed British royal had been seeking a judicial review to quash the search warrants issued by an Old Bailey judge on 18 February. These allowed police to search Andrew's residence on the Sandringham estate and his former Windsor home, Royal Lodge.
Andrew was arrested the following day, his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office in relation to allegations that during his time as Britain's trade envoy he shared sensitive information with the financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
At a private hearing in front of Mr Justice Hilliard at the Royal Courts of Justice on Thursday, the judge said both Andrew and Thames Valley Police had agreed that the warrants were incorrectly issued but that this did not end the investigation or mean that as a whole it was unlawful.
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: "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.
"We ensured the court was presented with all the necessary information and paperwork to inform their decision, following the correct legal processes throughout. 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.
"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."
Andrew was interviewed under caution on 19 February before he was released under investigation. Police began their searches the same day.
Charles stripped his brother of both his princely title and the dukedom of York last year due to his association with Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The accusations relating to the sharing of privileged information are based on emails that appeared in the Epstein files released by America's Department of Justice (DOJ) in late January. The former Duke of York has strenuously and repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
