Andrew Mountbatten Windsor required to surrender firearms licences

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has been forced to give up his firearms licences following a visit from police, further tightening restrictions on the former Duke of York.

The 65 year old agreed last month to surrender his firearms and shotgun certificates after officers from the Metropolitan Police visited him at Royal Lodge. He is understood to be a keen shot, but under the new arrangement he will only be permitted to use or transport his shotguns when accompanied by another licensed gun owner.

The former prince previously referred to a 2000 weekend spent with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Sandringham as “a straightforward shooting weekend” during his widely criticised 2019 Newsnight interview. That remark has since drawn renewed attention following the release of a photograph by the US government last week showing Andrew lying across the laps of five women during the same visit.

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor

Firearms licences are routinely reviewed, and police can request their surrender if a holder is deemed not fit to be entrusted with a weapon or considered a potential risk to public safety or public order. Andrew’s guns were not seized and remain in his possession, though he no longer holds valid licences.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said officers attended an address in Windsor on November 19 to request that a man in his 60s voluntarily surrender his firearms and shotgun certificate. The certificate was handed over and the force said it would not comment further.

Earlier this month, the Met declined to open an investigation into allegations that Andrew attempted to smear Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her on three occasions when she was 17. Those claims centred on an alleged attempt to pass confidential personal information about her to police.

In October, leaked emails suggested Andrew had asked his publicly funded police protection officer to investigate Giuffre and had shared her date of birth and social security number. He was also said to have emailed former aide Ed Perkins just hours before a photograph of him with Giuffre was published in February 2011.

The Metropolitan Police said it found no further evidence of criminal conduct. Giuffre’s family later criticised the decision, saying officers chose not to pursue the case without first speaking to them.

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Andrew has consistently denied all allegations of sexual abuse. In February 2022, he reached a settlement with Giuffre, reportedly worth around £9 million, without any admission of wrongdoing. The agreement allowed him to avoid giving evidence in court.

The former prince is expected to leave Royal Lodge within the first three months of 2026 after giving up the lease on the property in October. He is also not expected to attend the Royal family’s Christmas celebrations this year.

It is understood he plans to move to accommodation on the Sandringham estate once preparations are complete and appropriate security arrangements are in place.

In a statement announcing the removal of his Duke of York title, the King said his “utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse”.

The decision followed the gradual release of documents which showed Andrew had continued contact with Epstein for longer than he had publicly acknowledged. In his Newsnight interview, Andrew said he cut ties with Epstein in 2010 following the financier’s conviction for procuring a child for prostitution. However, an email later emerged from 2011 in which Andrew wrote to Epstein, “We are in this together.”

Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan federal jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He had previously pleaded guilty to child sex offences in 2008. Maxwell was convicted of child sex trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2021.

Further criticism has also emerged over Andrew’s long term housing arrangements, after it was revealed he paid only a nominal rent for more than two decades. The Commons public accounts committee has since demanded explanations from the Crown Estate about the management of Royal properties.