In a memo addressed to the then foreign secretary Robin Cook in February 2000, then-chief executive of British Trade International Sir David Wright said Queen Elizabeth II<\/a>\u2019s \u201cwish\u201d had been for Andrew to take on the job.<\/p>\n The late Queen was \u201cvery keen\u201d for the then Duke of York to take on a \u201cprominent role in the promotion of national interests\u201d, the papers show. <\/p>\n Sir David suggested the role would include some regional trips and two or three overseas visits each year, as well as a \u201cleading trade mission from time to time\u201d.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cFinally, we would want the Duke of York to be available to receive prominent trade visitors from overseas here in London and perhaps act as host at meals or receptions as appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n The memo has been released after ministers agreed in February to release a tranche of files related to his appointment to the post, which gave him access to senior government and business contacts around the world. <\/p>\n In a written statement to parliament to accompany the release of the files, the government said it found no evidence that formal due diligence or security vetting was carried out at the time.<\/p>\n “We have found no evidence that a formal \u200bdue diligence or vetting process was undertaken. There is also no evidence that this was considered,” Chris Bryant, a junior trade \u200bminister, said.<\/p>\n It comes as Andrew faces accusations of sharing sensitive information with the disgraced paedophile<\/a> financier Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> while acting as a special representative for trade and investment between 2001 and 2011.<\/p>\n Sarah Owen, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons Women and Equalities Committee, hit out at the lack of vetting. She told The Independent: \u201cEveryone should be subjected to the same due diligence, with no exceptions.\u201d <\/p>\n The Liberal Democrats said it was \u201cshocking and deeply troubling that Andrew was appointed to the trade envoy role with no vetting.\u201d<\/p>\n The government was also told by his aide that he preferred to go to \u201csophisticated countries\u201d and to see ballet<\/a> rather than theatre<\/a> on overseas visits, the documents show. <\/p>\n However, he \u201cshould not be offered private golfing functions abroad\u201d. This was described as a \u201cprivate activity\u201d and \u201cif he took his clubs with him he would not play in any public sense\u201d. Andrew was nicknamed \u201cAir Miles Andy\u201d and \u201cPlayboy Prince\u201d for his globe-trotting and his leisure activities, including his love of golf. <\/p>\n Andrew was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office and later released under investigation.<\/p>\n Ministers say they have worked with Thames Valley Police to ensure that any material released does not prejudice the police investigation. <\/p>\n Andrew became the UK\u2019s special representative for international trade and investment in 2001 but stepped down 10 years later amid the furore over his friendship with Epstein.<\/p>\n Although he was not paid, he had faced criticisms about the thousands of pounds spent each year on his expenses and travel costs.<\/p>\n He quit the role came the same year he was pictured with his arm around Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked to the former duke at the home of convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.<\/p>\n Ms Giuffre claimed she had sex with the former prince three times \u2013 at Maxwell\u2019s home in London, at Epstein\u2019s New York townhouse and on the disgraced financier\u2019s Caribbean island, Little St James.<\/p>\n Andrew paid Ms Giuffre millions of pounds to settle a civil suit in the US in 2022, a woman he has claimed never to have met.<\/p>\n The former prince has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. <\/p>\n Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: \u201cIt is shocking and deeply troubling that Andrew was appointed to the trade envoy role with no vetting. Nobody should be above such standards. This raises serious questions about why officials and ministers at the time thought that was acceptable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lack of documentation provided is itself concerning, as is the time it has taken to get this far. We must get the full files from government without delay, and an explanation about why there is such a small paper trail. And the government must commit to mandatory vetting for all similar appointments in future.\u201c<\/p>\n Ms Owen said: \u201cWe must expect the highest standards for all who operate in public office domestically and representing our country overseas. Everyone should be subjected to the same due diligence, with no exceptions. The days of appointing people without due process because of their family ties or other privileges must be condemned to the past.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-239255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Files](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/391207e77e8dce6c13edf0853360b53aY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzc5NDM5Nzc5-2.83533533.jpg\")
Files related to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor\u2019s 2001 appointment as trade envoy have been released (PA)<\/p>\n