No vetting for former Prince Andrew before trade envoy role, UK govt documents reveal

The British government said on Thursday it found no evidence that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor underwent any vetting before being appointed as a trade envoy in 2001. The disclosure came alongside the release of official documents showing that his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, had supported his appointment to the role.

The papers were released after opposition MPs sought all records connected to the establishment of the post of “Special Representative for Trade and Investment” and Prince Andrew’s controversial selection for the position. He was appointed trade envoy in 2001 but resigned ten years later following scrutiny over his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The embattled royal was briefly arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) published documents in connection with the investigation into Epstein, raising questions about his relationship with the financier while he was a trade envoy.

Following his arrest, the Liberal Democrats of Britain, an opposition party, made a “humble address” and requested the ministers to publish all available documents on the appointment of Mountbatten-Windsor. Chris Bryant, a trade minister, said on Thursday: “We have found no evidence that a formal due diligence or vetting process was undertaken. There is also no evidence that this was considered.”

Chris Bryant said the decision was “understandable”, arguing that Prince Andrew’s appointment was effectively a continuation of the royal family’s longstanding role in promoting Britain’s trade and investment interests. A 41-page dossier released by the British government also revealed that the late Queen Elizabeth II had actively backed her son’s appointment as trade envoy.

Trade envoy role

In a February 2000 memo addressed to then Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, David Wright, who headed British Trade International at the time, wrote that it was “the Queen’s wish” for Prince Andrew to take up the trade envoy role, adding that the position would “fit well” with the conclusion of his career in the British Navy. “The Queen is very keen that the Duke of York should take on a prominent role in the promotion of national interests,” Wright wrote at the time.

While serving as trade envoy, Mountbatten-Windsor travelled the world and met senior personalities in business and government. In the released documents on Thursday, a British diplomat wrote that Mountbatten-Windsor had a preference for visiting “more sophisticated countries” and “should not be offered golfing functions abroad.”

Later, Prince Andrew was stripped of his royal title last year as his brother, King Charles III, sought to protect the royal family from the backlash surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.