Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor becomes the first royal since the 19th century to be summoned as a witness in a fraud trial

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, has been served a formal witness summons compelling him to testify at the High Court in mid-December in a £40 million fraud case brought by Nebahat Isbilen, an 81-year-old Turkish millionairess who claims her former financial adviser Selman Turk stole tens of millions from her. Mountbatten-Windsor faces no accusations of wrongdoing, but is expected to face sharp questions about his finances — including a £750,000 payment routed to him in 2019 that was later repaid.

Turk, who met Mountbatten-Windsor through the Pitch@Palace initiative, also paid £225,000 to Sarah Ferguson, £25,000 to Princess Eugenie and contributed a £750,000 'gift' towards Princess Beatrice's wedding.

Justice Adam Johnson ruled Turk needed 'every reasonable opportunity' to mount his defence, noting Mountbatten-Windsor would 'unlikely' appear voluntarily — hence the formal summons.

It will mark Mountbatten-Windsor's first public questioning since his disastrous 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, offering a rare window into finances that have long lacked transparency.