By Molly Claire Goddard
11:20am PST, Dec 23, 2025
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A Metropolitan Police Service spokesperson confirmed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor handed over his gun license after authorities visited Royal Lodge. "On Wednesday, November 19, firearms licensing officers attended an address in Windsor to request that a man in his 60s voluntarily surrender his firearms and shotgun certificate," they said in a statement. "The certificate was surrendered and we will not be commenting any further at this stage."
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According to royal expert
Tom Sykes, the permit's confiscation could be linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's move out of Royal Lodge. "To be honest, this is unlikely to be a back-door conspiracy to strip Andrew of his shooting rights. It's more likely that the new restrictions are connected to his forthcoming change of address, which is something that would automatically trigger a review of your license," he wrote in
The Royalist's Substack.
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A source backed up Tom Sykes' theory about the action against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. "It is also a factor that he is due to be moving soon — and gun license holders have to inform authorities how their weapons would be kept at new addresses," an insider told
The Sun.
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The latest hurdle for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor may be especially challenging, as the former Duke of York is a skilled huntsman. "He will be under strict supervision. It is a real blow," the source said. "He will now not be able to do things like use guns on his own or even transport them unless he is under strict supervision."
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his titles and evicted from his longtime home due to his friendship with
Jeffrey Epstein. The father of two was also not invited to Christmas Day at Sandringham. "He's coming to terms with the fact he's lost everything that mattered to him. His status, his position in the royal family and military and to a lesser extent, a fractured family," a source told
The Telegraph.
