Paperwork present Queen Elizabeth II was “very eager” that the former Prince Andrew be given the job of UK commerce envoy.
The U.Ok. authorities on Thursday launched the confidential papers associated to Andrew’s appointment, simply months after lawmakers accused the king’s brother of placing his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein forward of the nation.
“The Queen could be very eager that the Duke of York ought to tackle a distinguished function within the promotion of nationwide pursuits,” the pinnacle of Britain’s commerce physique wrote in a letter.
One other doc, a authorities memo despatched to U.Ok. commerce workers around the globe, says that “HRH’s excessive public profile” would require “cautious and generally strict media administration,” in a reference to Andrew.
The involvement of the late queen will affirm beforehand held beliefs that the monarch held a smooth spot for her son — an empathy which may have influenced her lack of decisiveness in coping with allegations of Andrew’s connection to Epstein.
Commerce Minister Chris Bryant mentioned in a written assertion to lawmakers that “we’ve got discovered no proof {that a} formal due diligence or vetting course of was undertaken” earlier than Andrew was appointed to the function.
“There’s additionally no proof that this was thought of. That is comprehensible since this new appointment was a continuation of the royal household’s involvement in commerce and funding promotion work following the Duke of Kent’s determination to relinquish his duties as Vice-Chairman of the Abroad Commerce Board,” he mentioned.
He mentioned that the federal government was cooperating with Thames Valley Police on their investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and doable misconduct in public workplace.
Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his royal title final yr as King Charles III tried to insulate the monarchy from the rising fallout from the Epstein scandal. The previous prince served as a particular envoy for worldwide commerce from 2001 to 2011, when he was compelled to surrender the function due to issues about his hyperlinks to questionable figures in Libya and Azerbaijan.
The transfer adopted the U.S. Justice Division’s launch of thousands and thousands of pages of paperwork associated to Epstein. These information confirmed how the rich financier used a world internet of wealthy, highly effective pals to achieve affect and sexually exploit younger ladies and women.
Nowhere has the fallout from the doc launch been felt extra strongly than within the U.Ok., the place the scandal has raised questions on the way in which energy is wielded by the aristocracy, senior politicians and influential enterprise homeowners, recognized collectively as “the Institution.”
