On February 25, 2000, the head of Britain’s trade body penned a letter to two senior cabinet ministers, noting, “The Queen is very keen that the Duke of York should take on a prominent role in the promotion of national interests.”
This revelation underscores previous beliefs that the late Queen Elizabeth had a particular fondness for her second son, Prince Andrew, which may have influenced her hesitance to address allegations regarding his connections with Jeffrey Epstein. Royal commentators have long argued that the Queen should have acted more swiftly to relieve Prince Andrew of his royal duties. Her inaction, they suggest, contributed to tarnishing the monarchy’s reputation.
Prince Andrew, who held the position of Britain’s special envoy for international trade from 2001 until 2011, was compelled to step down due to concerns over his associations with controversial figures in Libya and Azerbaijan.
The recently uncovered documents hint at the Queen’s concern for her son, according to Craig Prescott, a constitutional law and monarchy expert at Royal Holloway, University of London.
“If the Queen expressed her wish, that effectively settled the matter,” Prescott explained.
“Her Majesty’s civil service, as it was known at the time, would have had to proceed accordingly,” he added.
“Her Majesty’s civil service, as it was then, would have to deal with it on that basis.”
Lawmakers approved a motion in February demanding publication of the documents after the former prince was arrested and questioned for several hours on allegations he shared government reports with Epstein while he was trade envoy.
Documents suggest Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed with little due diligence
Trade Minister Chris Bryant said in a written statement to lawmakers that “we have found no evidence that a formal due diligence or vetting process was undertaken” before Mountbatten-Windsor was appointed to the role of special trade envoy.
“There is also no evidence that this was considered. This is understandable since this new appointment was a continuation of the royal family’s involvement in trade and investment promotion work following the Duke of Kent’s decision to relinquish his duties as vice-chairman of the Overseas Trade Board,” he said.
He said that the government was co-operating with Thames Valley Police on their investigation into Mountbatten-Windsor and possible misconduct in public office.
Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal titles late last year as the US Justice Department prepared to release millions of pages of documents related to its investigation of Epstein. Those files showed how the wealthy financier used an international web of rich, powerful friends to gain influence and sexually exploit young women and girls.
Nowhere has the fallout from the document release been felt more strongly than in the UK, where the scandal has raised questions about the way power is wielded by the aristocracy, senior politicians and influential business owners, known collectively as “the Establishment.”
Mountbatten-Windsor has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Officials suggested not offering the former prince golf trips
There were hints, however, that some had misgivings about giving Mountbatten-Windsor the high-profile trade role, where his effectiveness relied on his credibility.
The back and forth suggested that while officials may not have questioned his appointment, they were involved in making suggestions about what he shouldn’t be allowed to do in the role.
Kathryn Colvin, head of protocol at the Foreign Office, wrote in a January 2000 memo that Andrew’s private secretary “asked that the Duke of York should not be offered golfing functions abroad”.
“This was a private activity and if he took his clubs with him he would not play in any public sense,” she wrote.
Another document, a government memo sent to UK trade staff around the world, warned that Mountbatten-Windsor’s “high public profile” will require “careful and sometimes strict media management”.
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