Prince Andrew has been summoned to testify as a witness in a civil fraud trial, a development believed to be the first time a member of the British royal family has received such a summons in more than 150 years, according to British media reports.
A judge at the High Court in London authorized the summons last month, allowing for the former Duke of York, now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, to be called to testify regarding alleged payments he received from parties involved in the case. However, Mountbatten-Windsor has the option to apply to have the summons set aside, meaning his testimony is not guaranteed.
The lawsuit was initiated by Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, a Turkish national who claims her former adviser, Selman Turk, misappropriated tens of millions of pounds of her funds. Isbilen alleges that Turk misled her about a 750,000-pound ($1 million) payment he facilitated for her to make to Mountbatten-Windsor in 2019.
Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles III, repaid the sum in 2021 and is not a direct party to the ongoing legal action. Turk maintains that Isbilen authorized the payment, hoping Mountbatten-Windsor's connections could assist her husband, who has been imprisoned in Turkey since 2015. Isbilen contends her husband is a victim of political persecution.
Isbilen's legal team stated last month that they believe this marks the first instance of a royal receiving a witness summons since 1870. At that time, the then-Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, was summoned to appear in a divorce case. He accepted the summons and denied improper relations with the wife of Charles Mordaunt, a Member of Parliament.
Prince Andrew is also facing scrutiny related to his ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with several British police forces investigating the matter. These inquiries intensified after the U.S. Department of Justice released extensive documentation from its Epstein investigation earlier this year. In late 2025, King Charles III removed Mountbatten-Windsor's princely title in an effort to distance the royal family from the Epstein scandal.