Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has reportedly stirred discontent among international figures and associated with questionable individuals during his tenure as a trade envoy, prompting concern among Whitehall officials.

According to sources from the previous coalition government, Andrew was largely perceived as a liability. However, removing him from his official duties was deemed politically delicate, as it could potentially embroil Buckingham Palace in a public controversy.

Vince Cable, who served as the business secretary in 2011, remarked that the former Duke of York, who began his role as trade envoy in 2001, was considered to be a “freeloader” and not particularly beneficial, leading officials to prefer minimal interaction with him.

“Yet, because of his royal status, the official stance was to praise his work,” Cable explained to The Observer.

Another former senior Whitehall official noted that ambassadors often found themselves hosting grand receptions, only for Andrew to “arrive late, engage exclusively with young women, and depart early.”

Unlike other royals, who typically left a positive impression, the former prince reportedly had a demeanor that could be abrasive, leaving some feeling unsettled, according to the official.

A decision was taken to ultimately sever links with Andrew in 2011 after a photo emerged of him with his arm around Virginia Giuffre, who has alleged she was sexually exploited by the prince.

The Mail on Sunday yesterday revealed the Government was warned by a British ambassador as far back as 2002 that Andrew’s behaviour as a trade ambassador was damaging the country and the Royal Family.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (centre) in Bahrain in 2014 in his role as a trade envoy, flanked by Prince Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa (left) and Crown Prince and Bahraini Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa (right)

Andrew meets Nguyen Dy Nien, then Vietnam’s Foreign Minister,  in Hanoi at the start of a three-day visit to the Communist country in June 2006

Peter Mandelson (left) and Andrew at the EU Commission’s headquarters in Brussels EU in 2007

Andrew was recommended for the envoy role by New Labour architect Peter Mandelson, whose own reputation is in tatters after the release of the Epstein files. 

Leaked diplomatic papers showed that Patrick Nixon, then ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, said of Andrew’s visit to the region in November 2001: ‘I was particularly alarmed by some crass and offensive remarks about Saudi Arabia and its oil which he made to distinguished Emiratis.’

Mr Nixon also warned that Andrew had rudely disregarded dignitaries, including an Emirati royal, during an embassy reception and claimed he had ‘damaged rather than enhanced our standing and that of the Royal Family’.

Yet despite his concerns reaching the head of the diplomatic service at the Foreign Office in London, it would be nearly ten years before Andrew was forced to quit the role over his links to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

It was reported Andrew eventually agreed to give up the trade position following a conversation between David Cameron and the late Queen.

There had, by this time, been feedback from numerous ambassadors and consuls that Andrew’s presence was actually counterproductive, according to reports.

One senior figure in the coalition government said officials had raised the alarm about the former prince’s ‘dubious friends’.

The revelations will fuel questions about why Andrew’s behaviour and activities were not subjected to closer scrutiny sooner. 

A disturbing image from the Epstein files shows Andrew Mountbatten Windsor crouching on all fours over a female lying on the floor

Mr Cable expressed outrage at learning Andrew had visited China ahead of an important government trip in November 2010, saying he now realises he ‘seems to have been there the previous month doing his own negotiations and that nobody had told us about it’.

Emails released by the US Department of Justice showed Andrew took one of Epstein’s closest confidants, David Stern, on the trip to China in 2010.

The trips were designed to promote British business and attract investment on taxpayer-funded trips overseas. 

They were meant to be organised by the Government, but in an apparent breach of protocol, the emails reveal that Mr Stern was asked to ‘help’ plan the China visit.