The past year has not been a happy one for the royal formerly known as Prince Andrew. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been stripped of his title, cast out of his home of South Lodge and, on his 66th birthday earlier this year, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. His arrest led to perhaps the least flattering photograph of a royal ever taken – Andrew, pie-eyed and ashen-faced, gawping in the back of a car – as he left the police station.

Most observers expected that either charges would follow or that an inability to gather compelling evidence would lead to the investigation being dropped. However, months later there has been no decision made about whether to charge Andrew. And so the disgraced royal has applied for a judicial review over the warrants that allowed Thames Valley Police to search his former home of Royal Lodge and his current residence of Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate.

This is the first time that a member of the royal family has........

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