By Fatma Younis
Prince Andrew, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has been summoned to testify as a witness in a civil fraud trial at London's High Court, marking the first time in over 150 years a British royal has received a witness summons.
The summons follows a judge's ruling last month allowing the former prince to be called regarding payments he allegedly received from parties in the case. Mountbatten-Windsor may apply to have the summons set aside, so his testimony is not guaranteed.
The lawsuit was filed by Turkish national Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, who alleges her former adviser Selman Turk misappropriated tens of millions of pounds. She claims Turk arranged a £750,000 payment to Mountbatten-Windsor in 2019, which he repaid in 2021. He is not a party to the suit.
Turk contends Isbilen authorized the payment hoping Mountbatten-Windsor could use his connections to help her husband, imprisoned in Turkey since 2015. Isbilen alleges her husband is a victim of political persecution.
Lawyers for Isbilen said this would be the first royal witness summons since 1870, when the future King Edward VII testified in a divorce case.
Separately, several British police forces are investigating Mountbatten-Windsor's links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. King Charles III stripped his brother of his princely title in late 2025 amid the scandal.
