The British government confirmed this week that it will release files related to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s time as the UK’s trade envoy. Pressure came from the Liberal Democrats, who introduced a motion in Parliament, and Labour’s Chris Bryant, the Trade Minister, readily supported it.
All this comes as Thames Valley Police continue to investigate Andrew, who was arrested on February 19th on suspicion of misconduct in public office for allegedly leaking confidential documents to Jeffrey Epstein. He was released pending investigation and has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Bryant didn’t just announce the publication. He went much further. In the House of Commons, he described Andrew as “a man on a constant self-aggrandizing and self-enriching hustle, a rude, arrogant, and entitled man” who failed to distinguish between the public interest and his own.
He also made a broader point, stating that responsibility lies not only with those who participated in the abuses, but with all who “turned a blind eye out of greed, familiarity, or deference.” A phrase that points in many directions at once.
The issue is that publication will not be quick. The government has made it clear it does not want to interfere with the police investigation, and the police have millions of emails from the Epstein case to review, plus evidence collected from the Royal Lodge and Sandringham residence.
Bryant acknowledged that many of these documents are 25 years old, are on paper, and are quite extensive. If charges were brought, a trial and sentence could drag on for months or even years.
What concerns many within Buckingham Palace is what those files might reveal. According to a 2001 Guardian report, Prince Charles at the time opposed Andrew’s appointment as a trade envoy, but Queen Elizabeth supported it.
If records exist of those internal conversations, and of why no one acted despite the doubts about his suitability that were already circulating that same year, the impact on the institution could be considerable.
That year, the British press also published questions about his friendship with Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. The context was clear from the start.