Documents on Andrew’s appointment as trade envoy to be released

Sophie Wingate, Press Association Deputy Political Editor

A trove of files related to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as a trade envoy is expected to be published on Thursday.

The former Duke of York faces accusations of sharing sensitive information with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein while acting as a special representative for trade and investment between 2001 and 2011.

Ministers agreed in February to publish documents related to his appointment to the post, which gave him access to senior government and business contacts around the world.

It came after the Liberal Democrats tabled a humble address in Parliament calling for the publication of papers on Andrew’s role, including any vetting and any correspondence from disgraced former ambassador to the US Lord Peter Mandelson.

The list of Commons’ written statements due to be released on Thursday includes one from the Department of Business and Trade entitled “Return to the Humble Address on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor”.

A ministerial statement on the publication of the files is also expected on Thursday afternoon.

Andrew was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office and later released under investigation.

The Department of Business and Trade was leading the work to trawl through records spanning “multiple legacy bodies and formats”, trade minister Sir Chris Bryant said in March.

“We have established a process with the Cabinet Office and Thames Valley Police to ensure that any material released does not prejudice the police investigation,” he said at the time.

Andrew became the UK’s special representative for international trade and investment in 2001 but stepped down 10 years later amid the furore over his friendship with Epstein.

He received no salary for travelling around the world and at home promoting Britain’s business interests, but criticisms were made about the thousands of pounds spent each year on his expenses and travel costs.

His decision to quit the role came in the same year he was pictured with his arm around his primary accuser, Virginia Giuffre, who said she was trafficked to the former duke at the home of convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

Ms Giuffre claimed she had sex with the former prince three times – at Maxwell’s home in London, at Epstein’s New York townhouse and on the disgraced financier’s Caribbean island, Little St James.

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.

The former prince has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.