Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has launched a legal challenge against Thames Valley Police over his arrest earlier this year, the Telegraph reported on Sunday. A High Court judge has granted him permission to seek a judicial review of the search warrants used in the case.

The warrants allowed officers to raid his home on the Sandringham Estate and his former residence, Royal Lodge in Windsor. His legal team wants the court to decide whether the police acted lawfully. A private High Court hearing this week will decide whether related court documents can be released.

He was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The allegation is that he passed confidential government documents to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while serving as Britain’s trade envoy between 2001 and 2011. Reports say he forwarded official reports on diplomatic visits to Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam and China, and a briefing note on investment in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Mountbatten-Windsor was questioned for a full day after his detention and denies any wrongdoing. Reuters noted it could not independently verify the Telegraph’s report, and neither the police nor Buckingham Palace commented. He quit royal duties in 2019 over his Epstein ties and was stripped of his titles by his brother King Charles last October.