london —
The late Queen Elizabeth II was “very keen” for her son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to play a “prominent role” in promoting Britain’s interests, a former official previously said, according to a trove of documents relating to the former prince’s appointment as Britain’s trade envoy in 2001.
In a February 2000 memo to the then foreign secretary, Robin Cook, David Wright, then chief executive of government body British Trade International, said it was “the Queen’s wish” for Mr Mountbatten-Windsor to serve as trade envoy and that the role was a “perfect fit” at the end of his career in the Royal Navy.
The exchanges are detailed in a set of documents released by the British government on Thursday regarding Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as trade envoy, a post he resigned from in 2011 over his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Lawmakers agreed in February to release documents relating to the disgraced royal’s appointment, days after he was briefly arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest came after the US Department of Justice released documents related to the Epstein investigation, raising questions about the former prince’s dealings with financiers during his time as trade envoy.
Following the arrest, Britain’s opposition Liberal Democrats called on the government to release all documents relating to the creation of the Special Representative for Trade and Investment and Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment to the role.
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