Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s Fightback Gathers Pace in Royal Row

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had barely finished his morning tea and Abernethy biscuits when Thames Valley Police arrived at his door in February.

Although he had received a warning that detectives were on their way, nothing could have prepared him for the sight of six unmarked cars arriving outside Wood Farm at about 8am on his 66th birthday.

The former Duke of York was arrested and taken to a Norfolk police station for questioning, while plain-clothed officers armed with a search warrant went through the rooms of his temporary home on the Sandringham Estate.

At the same time, 140 miles away, police searched his former residence, Royal Lodge in Windsor. They removed paperwork and electronic equipment left behind after he was abruptly sent into exile the previous month.

For the son of a monarch, even one whose standing had been severely diminished, it was a deeply humiliating episode. It also marked what now appears to have been a breaking point for a man who was born second in line to the British throne.

Outraged by what he considered an unacceptable intrusion into his privacy, Mountbatten-Windsor challenged the legality of the warrants used to search his homes. In doing so, he became the first member of the Royal Family to contest British criminal proceedings since Charles I faced trial for high treason in 1649.

Unlike his ill-fated Stuart ancestor, however, Mountbatten-Windsor has won his legal challenge.

A High Court judge ruled that warrants issued at the Old Bailey to Thames Valley Police, during an investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office, were unlawful because the wrong legislation had been used.

The warrants were quashed in July during a private hearing, details of which were made public this week.

While the victory may ultimately rest on a legal technicality, Mountbatten-Windsor’s decision to challenge the police points to a renewed determination in a man widely said to have been devastated by his fall from grace.

“Something of the old Andrew has returned. The spirit of the grand old Duke of York has been rekindled,” a royal source told the Daily Mail exclusively this week.

“He believes he is an honourable man who has been treated unfairly. He is determined not to be merely a punchbag or a scapegoat. He is tired of his situation and has begun to fight back.”

Could this week’s legal development therefore be only the beginning? A year after he was stripped of his titles and reduced to the status of a commoner, is Mountbatten-Windsor on the verge of an extraordinary comeback?

There are other indications that circumstances may be shifting for the embattled former HRH. Among them is the changing attitude of north Norfolk’s wealthy social circle, known as the Turnip Toffs, where sympathy for a man once viewed as a social outcast appears to be growing.

As The Mail on Sunday reported last week, Andrew’s phone has been ringing more often after a period of isolation following his reduction in rank. Well-connected neighbours have reportedly begun inviting him to informal kitchen suppers and relaxed barbecues.

Some hosts are said to enjoy “trying to shock” their guests by including the scandal-plagued former prince. But one society figure said: “Things have gone too far. The feeling is that Andrew needs to be welcomed back, at least to some extent.”

Amid louder speculation that he could soon be free of legal jeopardy, recent hosts are reportedly said to include the Earl and Countess of Leicester—known to Andrew as Tom and Polly. They are understood to have invited him for an informal dinner at Holkham Hall, their Norfolk estate.

According to the Daily Mail’s source, these small gatherings are intended to draw the reclusive Andrew “out of himself” and are being kept deliberately low-key, at least for now.

‘Anything formal would be fraught with difficulties when it comes to things like table plans,’ says the source, ‘because Andrew, who would once have been guest of honour, is now outranked by many in the Turnip Toff set.’

But such is the growing mood of confidence around Mountbatten-Windsor, who has always denied any wrongdoing and has not yet been charged with any criminal offence, that some of his friends have now urged him to go further and mount a legal challenge against the King’s decision to remove his titles and royal status.

‘He remains the son, brother and uncle of future monarchs,’ says the royal source. ‘Most people don’t realise that technically he is still the Duke of York – he still insists on being called “Sir” and “Duke” at home. Only an Act of Parliament can extinguish his title.’

Encouraging, too, is the steady flow of ‘fan mail’ now being delivered to Marsh Farm which has been Mountbatten-Windsor’s home on the Sandringham estate since early April.

Most of the letters are opened by his part-time secretary who sends a formal acknowledgment to well-wishers by way of reply.

This month he handed back the keys to Royal Lodge, along with £1.5million to pay the Crown Estate for repairs to the main house and a dilapidated outbuilding.

In receipt of a generous stipend from the King’s private funds – on top of the modest Royal Navy pension he receives – Mountbatten-Windsor clearly isn’t short of cash although his means of support, as always, are pretty much invisible.

In recent months, the King’s attitude to his troublesome young brother also appears to have softened. While some courtiers had advised that his movements in exile should be restricted, King Charles has given his sibling more freedom, allowing him to come and go as he pleases – albeit with a security detail to keep track of his movements.

The father of two is also allowed to ride, well away from the eyes of the public, on designated areas of the monarch’s privately owned Sandringham estate.

This summer has seen the brothers speaking by phone. Andrew has also received visits from his other siblings, Edward and Anne, both of whom are said to be concerned about his harsh treatment and the lack of emotional support offered to their brother as his life fell apart.

While steadfastly loyal to the monarchy, Andrew is also said to feel ‘badly let down’ by the King who, along with the late Queen, pushed him to settle with the late Virginia Giuffre following her claims to have had sex with him as a 17-year-old after being trafficked to the UK by Epstein’s girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

Concerned about the impact Giuffre’s claims would have on the impending Platinum Jubilee, it is said that the Queen and the then Prince of Wales hoped a financial settlement would draw a line under the scandal.

‘Andrew didn’t want to do it and was irate about not holding out,’ says the royal source. ‘The plan backfired. His daughters weren’t the only ones who wanted to know why he was settling with a woman he claimed never to have met.’

His supporters also contrast his harsh treatment with that meted out to Prince Harry, who has spoken out against his relatives and the monarchy – not least in his best-selling autobiography Spare – and has suffered scarcely any consequences.

Meanwhile Andrew, it is pointed out, has remained loyal – and tight-lipped.

According to the source: ‘He always has felt that his nephew has been treated leniently compared to himself, especially as Andrew has remained loyal to the throne and would never do anything that would cause trouble. That’s very unlike Harry and Meg’s stone-throwing and tittle-tattling across the Pond.

‘The wider family feels he deserves credit for not rocking the royal boat.’

In the weeks and months ahead, a newly emboldened Mountbatten-Windsor will no doubt be looking for ways to capitalise on his High Court victory.

‘He would love to go further as he seeks to rehabilitate himself,’ says the Daily Mail’s royal source.

‘Although he knows that his hopes of riding again in Trooping the Colour are gone he wants to be accepted back into the family rather than be hidden away as a pariah.’

The real test will come at Christmas when the Royal Family gather at Sandringham.

‘The true extent as to how far he is still being frozen out by his own family should become clear at Christmas where the optics of an isolated Andrew whilst the rest of the family party nearby is causing courtiers some jitters,’ adds the source.

Another hurdle lying just around the corner is next month’s Commonwealth summit meeting in Antigua where the question of whether to remove Mountbatten-Windsor – who is still eighth in line to the throne, after Prince Harry’s daughter Princess Lilibet – from the royal succession is due to be discussed.

The matter can only be decided by all 15 Commonwealth states who would have to pass legislation in their own parliaments to effect any change.

Much, of course, will depend on what happens next in the police investigation.

This week Thames Valley Police blamed the courts for the embarrassing search warrant muddle and, having applied to keep the material seized during those searches, insist ‘it is not a judgement on our ongoing investigation’.

Some legal experts believe, however, that the unlawful searches of Andrew’s residences now cast doubt on the entire police investigation against him.

Part of Andrew’s gripe, the Daily Mail has been told, was that the search of Royal Lodge, which took much longer than Wood Farm, was undertaken without him or a representative present.

He also complained that detectives took private and confidential items – belonging to both him and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson – which apparently had no bearing on their investigation.

‘The police appear to have made no distinction between the two,’ said the source.

Marcus Johnstone of PCD Solicitors, which specialises in criminal defence, told the Daily Mail this week that it was ‘concerning that Thames Valley Police did not make sure that all their ducks were in a row before pulling the trigger’.

He added: ‘As things stand, what the force has now opened itself up to is the possibility of further legal action and the collapse of the case against Mr Mountbatten-Windsor entirely.’

Even without this legal setback, misconduct in public office is notoriously difficult to prosecute largely because there is no definitive list of positions that qualify for that description.

Police will have to interview numerous officials and seek disclosure from the Government of any documents Andrew signed regarding confidentiality in his role as British trade envoy which he held for ten years until 2011.

They would need to show that any misconduct was linked to the role itself and that Andrew ‘deliberately’ did something he knew was wrong or acted with ‘reckless indifference’.

Early signs that the police were struggling with the case emerged in May this year when Thames Valley Police broadened their ‘misconduct in public office’ investigation to include potential offences including sexual misconduct and corruption.

Their public appeal for ‘victim-survivors’ to come forward was interpreted by some as evidence of growing desperation.

Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said the force had assembled a dedicated team of its ‘most experienced specialist investigators’, which include detectives specialising in serious sexual attacks and financial experts.

Thames Valley Police, which has been liaising with the US Department of Justice following the release of millions of documents from the Epstein Files, has declined to say how much has been spent on their investigation but given the senior level of officers and considerable resources allocated so far, the costs will be mounting.

Given the significance of this high-profile case, any decision on whether to prosecute is likely to be taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson. As things stand, there is no sign of that happening any time soon.

A year on from one of the most devastating downfalls in the history of the British monarchy, an increasingly defiant Mountbatten-Windsor appears in no mood to go quietly.