Ex-Prince Andrew called to testify in civil case, first royal in 156 years to obtain subpoena

LONDON (AP) — Former Prince Andrew has been called to testify in a civil fraud trial, marking what would be the first time in more than 150 years that a member of the royal family has received a subpoena, British media reported Wednesday.

The summons comes after a judge at London’s High Court last month gave the green light for the former prince, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, to be called to give evidence about payments he allegedly received from the parties in the case. Mountbatten-Windsor can apply to have the summons quashed, so there is no guarantee he will testify.

The complaint was filed by Turkish national Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, who claims her former adviser Selman Turk embezzled tens of millions of pounds of her money. As part of the case, she claims Turk misled her about a 750,000 pound ($1 million) payment he arranged for her to make to Mountbatten-Windsor in 2019.

Mountbatten-Windsor, a younger brother of King Charles III, repaid the money in 2021 and he is not a party to the lawsuit.

Turk claims Isbilen authorized the payment in the hope that Mountbatten-Windsor could use her connections to help her husband, who has been imprisoned in Turkey since 2015. Isbilen alleges that her husband is the victim of political persecution.

Isbilen’s lawyers said last month they believed it would be the first time since 1870 that a member of the royal family would be the subject of a subpoena.

At this time the future King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, was called to give evidence in the divorce case brought by Charles Mordaunt, Baronet and Member of Parliament. The prince accepted the summons and denied having inappropriate relations with Mordaunt’s wife, Harriet Mordaunt.

Mountbatten-Windsor is facing legal troubles of his own as several British police forces investigate his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. British authorities began their investigation after the US Department of Justice released millions of pages of documents from its investigation into Epstein earlier this year.

Charles stripped Mountbatten-Windsor of his princely title in late 2025 as he tried to protect the royal family from the scandal surrounding his brother’s relationship with Epstein.