Man pleads not guilty to charge of threatening behaviour toward ex-Prince Andrew

Britain's Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, looks round as he leaves after attending the Easter Matins Service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, England, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

LONDON -- A man pleaded not guilty Friday to using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour toward the former Prince Andrew near his home on King Charles III’s Sandringham Estate.

Alex Jenkinson, 39, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court following accusations of threatening behaviour toward Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor near the former royal’s home earlier this week.

The denial came after reports that Mountbatten-Windsor was threatened by a masked man while walking dogs near his home.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that a man wearing a ski mask ran toward the former royal while shouting abuse on Wednesday.

Mountbatten-Windsor, 66 moved to the king’s private Sandringham Estate, about 160 kilometres north of London, after he was evicted from his longtime home near Windsor Castle following revelations about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

He was stripped of all his honours and titles and banished from public view by the royal family after years of scandal over his money woes and links to questionable characters, including Epstein.

One of Epstein’s accusers, Virginia Giuffre, alleged that she was forced to have sex with the then-prince three times, starting when she was 17. He denied it, but eventually settled the case for an undisclosed sum and acknowledged Giuffre’s suffering as a victim of sex trafficking. Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025, aged 41.

In February, he became the first senior British royal in almost 400 years to be arrested when he was held for hours by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office in a case related to his links to Epstein.

Police had previously said they were “assessing” reports that Mountbatten-Windsor sent trade information to Epstein, a wealthy investor and convicted sex offender, in 2010, when the former prince was the U.K. special envoy for international trade.

Correspondence between the two men was released by the U.S. Justice Department along with millions of pages of documents from the American investigation into Epstein.