King Charles III refused to help his brother

King Charles III has banned his younger brother, the former Prince Andrew, from using money he received from him to fund a lawsuit against London police. The Times reports this.

According to the publication, Andrew receives a six-figure sum annually from his brother. As the palace spokesman emphasized, this money “should not be used to pay for the trial.” The king himself, according to the source, has nothing to do with the lawsuit and has refused to help Andrew finance the litigation, which experts estimate could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The claim relates to search warrants issued by the Central Criminal Court on February 18, the day before Andrew's arrest. Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, was detained at his Marsh Farm home in Norfolk on his birthday on suspicion of white-collar crime, questioned for nearly 12 hours before being released. Police also conducted a six-day search at his former residence Royal Lodge in Windsor.

The hearing in the High Court is due to begin on Thursday, October 8, and will be held behind closed doors: the judge will first consider the police request to keep some of the documents secret. As noted, this is the first time in almost 400 years that a member of the royal family has challenged the legality of a criminal prosecution against him. The last time this happened was during the trial of Charles I in 1649.