A 39-year-old man who allegedly wore a ski mask and charged at former Prince Andrew while screaming abuse near his Sandringham Estate residence has pleaded not guilty, and Andrew himself will now be required to give evidence at trial.
Alex Jenkinson appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court to face two counts of using threatening, abusive, or insulting words or behavior to harass Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. He denied both charges. The trial is set for July 29 at the same court, Fox News reported.
The confrontation took place on a Wednesday near the former royal's current home on the Sandringham Estate, where Andrew was walking his dogs when a masked man ran toward him while shouting. Norfolk Constabulary described the suspect as "behaving in an intimidating manner" near Andrew's home, the New York Post reported.
Officers responded to the scene and arrested Jenkinson on suspicion of a public order offense and possession of an offensive weapon. A police statement confirmed the arrest details.
"Officers attended, and the man was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence and possession of an offensive weapon."
Authorities have not publicly confirmed what type of weapon Jenkinson allegedly possessed. The possession charge adds a layer of seriousness beyond verbal harassment, raising questions about whether the incident posed a direct physical threat to Andrew's safety.
Andrew is now expected to give evidence at the July trial, a prospect that would place the already embattled former royal on the witness stand in open court, as The Sun first reported.
The harassment case lands on a man whose life has collapsed in slow motion over the past several years. King Charles III stripped Andrew of his royal titles because of his connections to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew was forced to vacate Royal Lodge, his longtime Windsor Castle residence, and relocate to Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate.
That downgrade left him isolated on a rural Norfolk property, far from the royal inner circle he once occupied. The relocation itself became a public marker of his fall from grace within the House of Windsor.
New Mexico investigators have separately been questioning Epstein ranch staff about Andrew's visits to the late financier's properties, a line of inquiry that has kept the former prince's name entangled in the broader Epstein investigation.
On February 19, Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office connected to his Epstein ties and his time as the United Kingdom's trade envoy. AP News reported that the arrest made him the first senior British royal to be taken into custody in almost 400 years.
That investigation remains ongoing. Investigators have not said whether formal charges will follow from the misconduct inquiry, and Andrew has not been convicted of any offense related to his Epstein connections.
The misconduct case centers on whether Andrew abused his position as trade envoy in ways connected to his relationship with Epstein. The precise allegations remain under investigation, and no trial date has been set for that matter.
Virginia Giuffre, who had publicly accused Andrew of sexual abuse in connection with Epstein's trafficking operation, died by suicide in April 2025 at the age of 41. Her death removed the most prominent accuser from any potential future proceedings but did not end the institutional investigations surrounding Andrew's conduct.
Andrew's situation is not the only royal scandal playing out in European courts. A Norwegian crown princess's son was recently found guilty of rape and sentenced to four years in prison, underscoring how criminal proceedings involving royal-adjacent figures have become a recurring feature of the legal landscape across the continent.
The Epstein case itself continues to generate judicial pressure on multiple fronts. A federal judge found that transparency laws had been violated in the handling of Epstein-related files, and the DOJ has asked for more time to justify its redactions in those documents.
The July 29 trial will force Andrew into a courtroom as a complainant and witness, not a defendant. He will need to describe the confrontation in his own words, subject to cross-examination by Jenkinson's defense team. For a man who has spent years avoiding public accountability, the witness box presents a different kind of exposure.
Jenkinson's defense has not been publicly outlined beyond the not-guilty plea. His legal team will have the opportunity to challenge Andrew's account of the incident and the circumstances surrounding it. Investigators will need to establish the timeline, proximity, and nature of the alleged threat to secure a conviction on the harassment charges.
The weapons possession allegation, if it proceeds alongside the harassment counts, could carry separate penalties. Authorities have not confirmed whether the weapon charge will be tried at the same hearing.
The incident also raises pointed questions about the security arrangements at Marsh Farm. Andrew lost his taxpayer-funded royal protection detail as part of his broader fall from official standing. The fact that a masked individual was able to approach him closely enough to cause alarm while he walked his dogs suggests that whatever private security measures remain in place were insufficient to prevent a direct confrontation.
Norfolk Constabulary responded after the fact rather than intercepting the approach. Whether Andrew will receive enhanced protection ahead of the trial, or whether the Crown will revisit his security posture given the incident, remains unclear.
A man stripped of every title, evicted from his home, arrested for the first time in modern royal history, and now summoned to testify about being threatened on the grounds where he was sent to disappear. The system that once shielded Andrew from consequence is the same one now dragging him into a witness chair.
