LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth pressed for her son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to be made a government trade envoy back in 2000, according to documents released on Thursday.
Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of King Charles, served as the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment between 2001 to 2011 in a role that allowed him to travel the world meeting senior business and government figures in the unpaid role.
David Wright, the chief executive of British Trade International, said that before the appointment was made, he had a “wide ranging discussion” with the late Queen Elizabeth’s private secretary about Andrew’s appointment.
“The Queen’s wish is that the Duke of Kent should be succeeded in this role [as trade envoy] by the Duke of York,” Wright said in one document released on Thursday, referring to Mountbatten-Windsor’s previous title.
The government agreed to release 11 documents after an opposition party used a rare parliamentary device to request the publication of files about the appointment of Mountbatten-Windsor.
Chris Bryant, a junior trade minister, said in a written statement to parliament that there was no evidence that formal due diligence or security vetting was carried out at the time.
Formerly known as Prince Andrew, Mountbatten-Windsor was the first member of the British royal family to be arrested in more than three centuries earlier this year when he was questioned by officers on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Emails released earlier this year suggest that Mountbatten-Windsor, while serving as trade envoy, forwarded government reports to Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender.
Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, and said he regrets their friendship.
(Reporting by Muvija M, Sam Tabahriti and Andrew MacAskill; editing by William James and Sarah Young)
