Former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of King Charles III, has won the cancellation of the warrants that police used to search his homes as part of an investigation into his ties to American financier Jeffrey Epstein. The inquiry is ongoing, and the fate of the seized items and documents has yet to be decided by a court, infohub.kz reports.
London High Court judge Nicholas Hilliard pointed to errors made when the search warrants were issued. In particular, the court failed to take into account that police could seize documents protected by legal privilege — such materials are subject to a special procedure. Andrew challenged the warrants, and police acknowledged they had been issued unlawfully.
Police are now seeking to keep the seized materials, while the former prince is demanding their return. The court will consider the matter next year.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger brother of Charles III. He previously held the title Duke of York and represented the royal family at official events. After the scandal sparked by his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, he stopped carrying out those duties in 2019, and in 2025 he was stripped of his royal titles.
One of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, claimed the financier forced her into sexual encounters with Andrew when she was 17. The prince denied the allegations. In 2022 the parties reached an out-of-court settlement without him admitting liability.
Police are currently investigating whether Andrew passed confidential state information to Epstein. His work as Britain's trade envoy in 2001–2011 has come under suspicion. The investigation was prompted by Epstein case materials published in the United States. On February 19, 2026, Andrew was detained, questioned and released. No charges have been filed against him so far, and he denies any wrongdoing.
Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier at the center of one of the most high-profile criminal cases of recent decades. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution and was sentenced to prison. In 2019 he was detained again on charges of human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of girls. Before sentencing, Epstein took his own life in a detention center.
The day before, a federal court in New York refused to overturn the sentence of Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year term. A jury found her guilty in December 2021. According to investigators, between 1994 and 2004 she helped Epstein find underage girls and prepare them for sexual exploitation.
On January 30, 2026, the United States released part of the Epstein-related archives — correspondence, photographs and video. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, investigators identified more than 1,200 victims. As Kursiv wrote, the victims will receive $72.5 million from Bank of America.
Kazakhstan is mentioned in the documents about 400 times. Kursiv previously reported that among the names listed are former National Security Committee chief Karim Massimov and Rakhat Aliyev, former son-in-law of Nursultan Nazarbayev.