Police feared Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor could prevent searches of his properties by insisting officers first speak to his brother, the King, according to court documents.

Before Thames Valley Police raided properties at Sandringham and Windsor, officers were concerned they could be turned away if they arrived without search warrants.

They secured warrants from an Old Bailey judge after warning that Andrew or his legal team might block entry by arguing that ‘the property belongs to someone else (the King) and that separate legal permission should be sought’.

Investigators feared crucial evidence could be destroyed or removed if they had to wait for permission from Buckingham Palace to search the former Duke of York’s homes.

The details were disclosed in legal papers obtained by the Daily Mail as part of Andrew’s successful challenge against the police raids on his properties.

The High Court granted a Mail application to publish documents from the royal’s legal challenge against Thames Valley Police and the Old Bailey judge who authorised searches at Sandringham and Windsor.

The Detective Chief Inspector leading the raids told the Old Bailey judge that Andrew was a ‘suspect in a number of serious offences’. The officer added that ‘it is a matter of public record that he has previously not engaged with other investigative strands relating to his alleged involvement with Jeffrey Epstein’. Andrew’s lawyers rejected the claim as ‘materially and factually incorrect’.

The unnamed senior officer said: ‘My investigative objectives are to secure relevant evidence in a timely and secure fashion. Failure to do so risks loss of evidence and a consequent loss of public trust and confidence in the investigation.’

The DCI told the court that items held by Andrew were ‘likely to be of significant value to the investigation’.

Because officers could not be certain they would be given access without a warrant, the DCI asked the judge to approve one. He said: ‘I have no way of any degree of certainty that AMW or his legal representative will grant entry to the premises or, were they to do so, whether they would seek to frustrate certain elements of [the searches].’

Thames Valley Police submitted the warrant applications on February 18, one day before officers carried out the early-morning raids. The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft KC, approved the warrants.

Passages from the applications were later disclosed in the case papers put before the judge.

The documents stated that the DCI ‘had reasonable grounds for believing that [Andrew] had committed an offence of misconduct in public office’.

Police alleged that, while serving as the UK’s trade envoy in 2010, Andrew ‘forwarded official reports…to Jeffrey Epstein within minutes of receiving them’. The reports related to Andrew’s official British government trips to Singapore, Vietnam, China and Hong Kong.

The documents also alleged that Andrew met a private investment firm in 2011, while he was trade envoy, and suggested that Epstein could invest in the business.

Police described the allegations as an ‘inappropriate and unlawful disclosure of material whilst holding a public office’. Andrew’s lawyers disputed that interpretation, arguing there was no basis for claiming the conduct was incompatible with his role as trade envoy.

It emerged on October 8 that the King’s brother had won a judicial review against the police and the court. The High Court ruled that the raids on his properties had been unlawful.

The documents released today reveal that Andrew’s lawyers argued the searches had not been lawful, for several reasons. Among them, they said there was no reason for saying the former prince would not cooperate. There was also ‘no proper basis’ for concluding that he might destroy evidence.

They also said the release of the Epstein Files in February this year, when details of Andrew’s emails to the financier were revealed, would have given Andrew or others ‘plenty of notice and opportunity to dispose of evidence should they have been inclined to do so’. 

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The ex-Duke’s lawyers added that the police had breached their duty to provide them with details of their warrant application to the judge.

The legal drama threw into doubt the ongoing investigation by Thames Valley Police into Andrew and his dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But Andrew is not in the clear, with police – who admitted mistakes in their warrants – asking a judge for permission to retain documents and electronic devices that were seized.

The disgraced former prince was arrested on his 66th birthday in February and quizzed for nearly 12 hours at Aylsham police station. He was questioned on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Six days of searches ensued at Royal Lodge, the Windsor home he was forced to give up after more than 20 years, and at his then-residence, Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.

The one-time Duke of York has been seen only fleetingly since, having now settled into nearby Marsh Farm. But in an extraordinary hearing at the High Court on October 8, details emerged of his legal challenge. 

It became clear that Andrew had applied for a judicial review, asking a judge to rule that the police swoops on his homes were unlawful. He listed five grounds, only one of which has been made public – that some of the material seized might have been held by him ‘in confidence’.

The one-time Duke of York has been seen only fleetingly since, having now settled into nearby Marsh Farm. But in an extraordinary hearing at the High Court on October 8, details emerged of his legal challenge.

The one-time Duke of York has been seen only fleetingly since, having now settled into nearby Marsh Farm. But in an extraordinary hearing at the High Court on October 8, details emerged of his legal challenge.

The challenge was pursued at the High Court earlier this year, but without the public being told anything at the time.

Thames Valley Police conceded that the search warrants had been unlawful and Mr Justice Hilliard formally quashed the search warrants in a ruling behind closed doors on July 22.

When the story finally emerged, Thames Valley Police blamed the fiasco squarely on the Old Bailey judge who had approved the search warrants.  

In theory, the force could be made to return all of Andrew’s belongings seized in the raids. Such a move would deal a potentially fatal blow to the misconduct in public office investigation that was launched after the publication of the Epstein Files this year. 

But Thames Valley Police has made a separate application to be allowed to retain the material, and has vowed its investigation would continue.

After admitting the raids were unlawful, police applied on June 4 for permission to keep Andrew’s belongings anyway.

They must show there is a legitimate reason for them to retain them. This application will be heard by the same judge but not until next year.

Andrew was questioned about his time as the UK’s trade envoy, a role he held between 2001 to 2011.

Emails suggested he had shared government information with his Wall Street friend, convicted paedophile Epstein.

In a remark about when the police would complete their investigation, Mr Justice Hilliard said: ‘I suspect that is quite a way off.’

Jurors at the federal trial of disgraced former police officer Matthew Farwell saw an ultrasound image of Sandra Birchmore’s unborn son Wednesday. Farwell is accused of killing Birchmore to prevent her from revealing their affair and her pregnancy.

The Boston jury was also shown photographs of Birchmore’s disheveled apartment in Canton, Massachusetts, where she was found dead on Feb. 4, 2021. Federal prosecutors allege that Farwell, then a 40-year-old married father of three, strangled her three days earlier and staged the scene to resemble a suicide.

In one photograph, a pregnancy ultrasound was attached to the kitchen refrigerator with a magnet at the apartment of the 23-year-old expectant mother.

Another image showed an upside-down box for a baby stroller lying on the apartment floor.

Federal prosecutors said Birchmore was at least eight months pregnant when she died.

Prosecutors allege Farwell killed Birchmore to stop her from telling his wife about their seven-year sexual relationship, which they say began when he abused Birchmore at age 15.

Both Birchmore and Farwell believed he was the father of her baby, but DNA testing later disproved that, according to prosecutors.

Farwell’s wife gave birth to his third child the day after Birchmore was killed, federal prosecutors said.

Testimony Tuesday established that Birchmore moved into the Canton apartment in December 2020, making it her first home of her own just weeks before her death.

Photographs showed the sparsely furnished apartment appearing dirty and cluttered, with water bottles, soda cans, cups, papers and other household items scattered across the floors, tables and countertops.

The images showed an unmade bed, a kitchen sink filled with soda cans and apparent stains covering portions of the carpet.

Cheryl Carlson, a former assistant principal at East Elementary School in Sharon, where Birchmore worked as an instructional assistant, testified Tuesday that she questioned the initial finding that Birchmore had died by suicide. Carlson then contacted investigators herself, according to an earlier report by the Globe.

“It didn’t make sense to me. Because she was so excited to have that baby,” Carlson said of the alleged suicide.

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“It didn’t fit with her character.”

Carlson also testified that Birchmore had confided in her about conflicts with the baby’s father but remained determined to have the child “no matter what.”

After learning she was pregnant in December 2020, Birchmore was so happy that she sent Farwell an image of the positive test, writing, “Congrats we are going to be parents,” prosecutors said.

Farwell allegedly replied: “You are truly the worst person on the face of Earth.”

Prosecutors claim Birchmore told Farwell she would inform his wife about the affair if he did not get her pregnant, and that he reluctantly agreed.

Farwell allegedly began grooming Birchmore when she was 13 and hoped to become a police officer while participating in a youth program he helped run. Prosecutors say he began abusing her two years later, when she was 15.

After allegedly killing Birchmore, Farwell staged the scene to make it appear that she had hanged herself, prosecutors said. They allege he placed a strap around her neck and suspended her seated body from a closet doorknob.

The jury Tuesday saw horrific images of her body when it was discovered three days later.

Farwell has pleaded not guilty to killing a witness or victim and to causing the death of an unborn child.

Farwell’s defense attorney claimed Birchmore took her own life, and told jurors about her history of mental health issues to support that claim.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, claimed Birchmore was over the moon to have the child and was taking her mental health seriously as she prepared for the baby, including going back on her antidepressants.

If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.

NEW YORK — Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro told a federal court Thursday that newly unsealed allegations accusing him and his wife of torture were “false accusations.”

Maduro and Cilia Flores appeared in court with shackles around their ankles as prosecutors presented a rewritten indictment. The case now goes beyond the original drug-trafficking charges, alleging that the couple directed a state-backed campaign of repression involving the torture of dozens of people, including three Americans.

Maduro twice declined to enter a plea when asked by the judge, instead denouncing the allegations through a courtroom interpreter as “false accusations and false testimony.” Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein then entered a not-guilty plea for him, saying, “a plea of not guilty will be entered on behalf of Mr. Maduro.”

Flores took a different approach. After confirming that she had reviewed a Spanish-language version of the amended indictment, she told the judge through the interpreter, “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty.”

U.S. military personnel seized the couple from their home in Caracas during a nighttime raid in January. Under a schedule approved Thursday, their trial is set to begin June 14, 2027—two weeks later than originally planned.

As in earlier hearings, Maduro and Flores followed the proceedings through headphones connected to a courtroom translator. Maduro, wearing glasses, periodically reviewed documents in front of him.

Maduro waved toward the gallery as he entered and shook hands with attorney Barry Pollack. Flores greeted another lawyer, Mark Donnelly, with a kiss on the cheek.

Pollack said last week that Maduro, 63, rejects the charges and “looks forward to his day in court.”

Pollack supported the government’s request to postpone the trial until June 14. He described the timetable as “very aggressive” in light of the expanded allegations but said the defense hoped to meet it.

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The revised indictment portrays Maduro as the overseer of a violent torture network that allegedly beat victims, suffocated them and subjected them to electric shocks. Prosecutors say he personally suggested torture techniques, received reports about the treatment of individual detainees and threatened to kill one prisoner’s child as psychological punishment.

Flores, 70, who previously served as Venezuela’s attorney general, allegedly helped build the system of repression and ordered the torture of specific individuals, according to the indictment.

Maduro led Venezuela from 2013 until his capture in January. The International Criminal Court has investigated him for years over alleged crimes against humanity connected to his crackdown on political opponents. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Torture is prohibited under international law and may be prosecuted outside the country where it occurred, regardless of the victims’ nationalities. Still, cases against foreign officials in the United States are exceptionally uncommon. Previous prosecutions have included the son of Liberian President Charles Taylor, Russians accused of war crimes in Ukraine and a former prison warden from Bashar Assad’s Syria.

Earlier this year, Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to the U.S. drug charges, which allege that they conspired to send large quantities of cocaine into the country. Their lawyers argue that the case should be dismissed because of immunity tied to their former positions as Venezuela’s president and first lady.

The amended indictment extends the torture allegations back to 2013, when Maduro succeeded his political mentor, Hugo Chávez, who died of cancer that year.

Maduro and Flores are scheduled to return to court for another pretrial hearing on Dec. 17.

The Justice Department on Thursday highlighted hundreds of arrests made during Operation Show Me Justice, a major federal crackdown in St. Louis, Missouri.

Launched in August, the initiative brought together the U.S. Marshals Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration and St. Louis Police Department to intensify enforcement against firearms offenses, drug trafficking and other criminal activity.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter and Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., announced the end of the months-long operation during a news conference.

McCotter said the operation resulted in 435 arrests connected to drug offenses, gun crimes and other violations. Of those, 412 involved people wanted on outstanding warrants, many of whom were facing more than one warrant, he told reporters.

Authorities also confiscated 80 kilograms of drugs, 166 firearms, six machine-gun conversion devices and more than $1 million in cash, according to McCotter.

The acting deputy attorney general encouraged mayors, city council members and state leaders nationwide to work with federal agencies on comparable public-safety efforts.

McCotter said the operation was built around the idea that communities should not view violent crime as unavoidable or simply accept it as part of daily life.

“To the mayors, city councils, governors and police chiefs watching: Violence is not inevitable,” he said. “We want to partner with you, work alongside you and provide help.”

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Federal officials have already joined forces with state and local agencies in Washington, D.C., and Memphis for similar crime-fighting initiatives.

The St. Louis announcement came about a week after federal and California authorities launched a large-scale enforcement effort in Los Angeles’ notorious Skid Row district.

Known as Operation Save Skid Row, the campaign involved 28 arrest warrants and 44 search warrants as authorities sought to disrupt drug distribution operations in the area.

More than 100 law enforcement vehicles took part in the Los Angeles operation. Those arrested included alleged members of several gangs, among them the Main Street Crips, Grape Street/Raymond Avenue Crips and Pueblo Bishop Bloods.

“Open-air drug markets will no longer be tolerated in the United States, and certainly not on Skid Row,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said at a news conference. He attributed many residents’ mental health crises and reluctance to seek treatment to dealers who, he said, keep people addicted and take their public assistance funds to finance drug purchases.

The Duchess of Sussex stepped out without the engagement ring Prince Harry gave her for the couple’s first joint public appearance in the UK since their return.

Meghan, 45, has not been photographed wearing the ring for almost nine months. However, many expected her to bring out the diamond sparkler for the couple’s royal-style appearance in Nottingham today.

The city holds particular significance for the Sussexes, as it was where they carried out their first royal walkabout together after announcing their engagement in 2017.

Meghan paired her outfit with a £1,500 cashmere coat and burgundy heels by London-based designer Jennifer Chamandi, valued at £650. She kept the rest of her jewellery understated.

The duchess was last seen wearing the engagement ring in February 2026, when she attended an NBA game in California.

Instead, Meghan accessorised her autumnal look — featuring a burgundy coat and matching knit jumper, both from Joseph — with her wedding band and the bedazzled fitness tracker she is now rarely seen without.

Alongside the Oura ring, which is concealed inside a custom diamond-encrusted gold ‘sleeve’ by Logan Hollowell, she wore a new and unidentified gold band on her right hand.

She also wore Princess Diana’s Cartier Tank Française watch, valued at £17,800 ($24,020), which was given to her after her marriage to the Duke of Sussex.

Harry proposed to Meghan in 2017, commissioning the late Queen Elizabeth II’s regular jeweller, Cleave & Company, to create a one-of-a-kind engagement ring for his future bride. 

The prince reportedly took a ring from Meghan’s jewellery box so the designers could determine her size. In a touching tribute to his late mother, he also asked them to ‘harvest’ diamonds from one of Diana’s bracelets.

Since the proposal at Nottingham Cottage — the couple’s former home in the grounds of Kensington Palace — the ring is believed to have been altered four times. Meghan was spotted wearing it with a thinner band than the original design at Trooping the Colour in June 2019.

Small diamonds were also added along the sides of the ring. The changes were valued at around £126,000 ($150,000), with jewellery expert Arabel Lebrusan suggesting the redesign reflected a more American style.

Royal biographer Omid Scobie wrote in Finding Freedom that the decision to resize and reset Meghan’s engagement ring with a new diamond band in 2019 was Harry’s idea.

In the biography, celebrity jeweller Lorraine Schwartz reportedly described the prince as: ‘The loveliest person ever. So romantic, so thoughtful.’

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The authors added: ‘So much so that Harry also thought to have Lorraine resize and reset Meghan’s engagement ring with a new diamond band.’

Further speculation about changes to Meghan’s engagement ring emerged in 2022, when she attended the Invictus Games in The Hague, Netherlands. The setting appeared to feature additional diamonds surrounding the central stone.

The ring was notably absent during several of Meghan’s appearances in 2023, when a loose stone was reportedly being repaired – in what some believed was a third alteration.

In 2025, eagle-eyed royal fans noted that the ring’s central diamond looked more like an emerald cut than the original cushion cut when it was seen in a trailer for Meghan’s since-axed Netflix series.

During their appearance in Nottingham, a crowd of 100 fans gathered to greet Harry and Meghan. 

The duchess accepted bouquets and balloons from well-wishers as she told them ‘it’s great to be back’. Harry repeatedly placed a protective arm around her as they posed for selfies and chatted with members of the public. 

At one point, Meghan appeared to show someone in the crowd her jewellery.

Their last official public appearance together in Britain was at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022.

There is a ‘really nice synergy’ in their return to Nottingham nine years on, a source said, while adding that things have changed since they were last there.

‘Her public appearances will be relatively rare. She is reading a lot of scripts at the moment. If she has time left after all of that, she will do some charity work,’ the Sussex source continued.

‘But she’s not a working royal. Her day isn’t organised around a programme pulled together by a private secretary. She’s a full-time mum and entrepreneur, and that alone takes up a lot of time and work.’

Harry is focused on his charity work, especially Invictus, while Meghan is more focused on her brand As Ever and her potential return to acting.

‘They have different professional priorities,’ one source told the Telegraph. ‘Prince Harry’s is his philanthropic work and public service. Her focus is on her family and children, followed by her business, followed by rebooting her acting career.’

Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday faulted both the Biden and Trump administrations for not applying enough American pressure to restrain Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. She said Washington should have used its leverage “sooner and more forcefully.”

Speaking at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, South Korea, Harris said the United States had failed to respond adequately to what she described as the Israeli government’s “horrific conduct” during the Gaza war. She criticized the current administration for giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “blank check,” while also saying her own administration should have taken stronger action earlier.

The Republican Jewish Coalition said Harris’s comments were “unsurprising,” pointing to her decision not to attend Netanyahu’s 2024 address to Congress and her opposition to legislation aimed at the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

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The group also took aim at Harris’s call for Israel to halt its military operations in Rafah, where the Israel Defense Forces later located and rescued hostages. It further criticized her for agreeing with a student in 2021 who accused Israel of committing “ethnic genocide.”

Warren Kinsella, an attorney and author who worked on Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign, said after her remarks that he was “ashamed to have worked with her.”