The former prince Andrew has been called to testify as a witness in a civil fraud trial. British media reported on Wednesday that this marks what is believed to be the first time in more than 150 years that a member of the royal family has received a witness summons.
The summons follows a decision made last month by a judge at the High Court in London. The judge gave the green light for the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, to be called to testify regarding payments he allegedly received from the parties involved in the case. However, there is no guarantee he will testify as Mountbatten-Windsor may apply to have the summons set aside.
The lawsuit was initiated by Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, a Turkish national. She alleges that her former adviser, Selman Turk, misappropriated tens of millions of pounds of her money. Isbilen says Turk misled her about a £750,000 (US$1 million) payment he arranged for her to make to Mountbatten-Windsor in 2019.
Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles, is not a party to the suit and repaid the money in 2021. Turk claims that Isbilen authorized the payment because she hoped Mountbatten-Windsor could use his connections to assist her husband, who has been imprisoned in Turkey since 2015. Isbilen alleges her husband is a victim of political persecution.
Lawyers for Isbilen stated last month that they believe this is the first time since 1870 that a member of the royal family has been subject to a witness summons. In 1870, the future King Edward VII, who was then the Prince of Wales, was called to testify in a divorce case brought by Charles Mordaunt, a baronet and member of parliament. That prince accepted the summons and denied having improper relations with Mordaunt’s wife, Harriet Mordaunt.
Mountbatten-Windsor is currently facing his own legal issues, as several British police forces are investigating his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. These inquiries began after the US Department of Justice released millions of pages of documents from its Epstein investigation earlier this year. In late 2025, Charles stripped Mountbatten-Windsor of his princely title in an effort to shield the royal family from the scandal involving his brother’s relationship with Epstein.
