I enjoyed talking to Tom Sykes about yesterday’s publication of Entitled and also about the important and significant release of files yesterday that revealed the extent to which Queen Elizabeth II pushed for Andrew to be a trade envoy. The documents powerfully highlight the entitlement that underpinned the manner in which he was given the role and contain notable details such as a desire for access to youth events and the fact that he wasn’t vetted at all for the role.
What’s clear is that the foundation for all that went wrong was built in from the start in a hiring process that would be alien to any other member of the public taking on such an important government role.
As I wrote in my book, Peter Mandelson also pushed hard for Mountbatten-Windsor to get the job that would go on to cost the taxpayer £15m, while Andrew partied in 5-star hotels, requested women to accompany him and behaved boorishly and inappropriately at multiple diplomatic events.
We also covered the news, announced officially today, that the police are investigating sexual misconduct crimes and have appealed for any women affected to come forward, and have been in discussion with a possible victim and their lawyer in the USA.
As I said to Tom, Andrew wasn’t operating in a silo, and staff would have booked his prostitutes and arranged his travel via private jets. I have submitted countless FOIA requests regarding his trips, especially to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, to try and find out who accompanied him. The excuses for saying no range from health and safety concerns to national security, and I will in time be sharing more about the ways in which the state is able to prevent proper scrutiny using the very law that was enacted to improve public accountability.
Thanks to the Epstein Files, we have a much clearer picture that adds to the revelations in Entitled about the dodgy business figures who routinely went on official trips with Andrew in order to profit from his connections.
I made the point that the national security angle to this scandal is an underreported part of the Epstein/Andrew/Mandelson story and this is why it is so important that the government honour their commitment to release the Andrew files, so that we can have a fuller understanding of what went wrong and ensure that it never happens again.
We also discussed the uncomfortable but important question of what the Queen knew and when she knew it and why her part in the £12m payout to Virginia Giuffre casts a shadow on her legacy.
We looked too at the news regarding Prince William’s opaque finances and why it’s so important that the Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster are brought into public ownership and why transparency is so vital if the monarchy are to rebuild trust and ensure their long-term survival. Indeed Norman Baker and I will be launching a campaign for Royal transparency tomorrow and I look forward to sharing more about that over the weekend.
