Disgraced royal Andrew secured trade envoy role against King’s wishes
Lord Mandelson helped secure the job of UK trade envoy for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor against the wishes of the King.
The then Prince Charles expressed concerns about his brother’s suitability for the role, but the late Queen Elizabeth II overruled him with backing from the former trade secretary.
Mountbatten-Windsor, then the Duke of York, succeeded the Duke of Kent, his second cousin, as special representative for international trade and investment in 2001.
The move was highly controversial because the former prince already had a reputation for using his status to travel the world playing golf and was considered an unreliable playboy by many critics.
One newspaper headline at the time described the appointment as “another royal accident waiting to happen”.
Mandelson, though, intervened, saying the then duke was “well qualified” for the role.
The two men knew each other by then, having both worked on an NSPCC campaign. Both of them also knew Ghislaine Maxwell and were friends with Evelyn de Rothschild, the City financier, and his wife Lynn, who in turn were friends with Epstein.
Maxwell, who is serving a jail sentence for child sex trafficking for Epstein, was photographed with Mountbatten-Windsor at a “hookers and pimps” Halloween party in New York before he was given the trade role. She was also friends with Mandelson, who had worked as a consultant for her father Robert, the one-time owner of the Daily Mirror.
In 2000, both Mountbatten-Windsor and Mandelson were guests at the wedding of the Rothschilds. According to Maxwell, it was Lynn Rothschild who first introduced the former prince to Epstein in the early 2000s, and it was at the Rothschilds’ summer house in Martha’s Vineyard, the Massachusetts island, that Mandelson was introduced to Epstein in 2001.
When concerns were raised in 2001 about Mountbatten-Windsor’s upcoming new role, Mandelson, who was close to Tony Blair, then prime minister, said: “As a former trade secretary I know of the great importance of trade missions.
“With a royal association they can achieve a reach into overseas foreign markets which is of immense value to the economy of the country. In that context, the Duke of York will have a very important role for which he is well qualified. This activity on behalf of the nation should not be confused with the commercial activities for personal gain which is associated with certain other members of the Royal family.”
Dozens of MPs unsuccessfully pushed for a register of royal interests to be established in order to keep a check on any potentially compromising business dealings by members of the royal family.
Mountbatten-Windsor was forced to give up his trade role in 2011 over his links with Epstein. He was stripped of all of his titles when it emerged he had lied about when he cut off contact with the convicted paedophile.
On Thursday, he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office following the publication of emails he sent to Epstein allegedly containing confidential information.
They included a memo on investment opportunities in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, where deposits of gold and uranium had been found, and where reconstruction work was being carried out by the British Department for International Development, following the war with the Taliban.
‘This will be a complex investigation requiring a significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis.’Hayley Sewart, deputy assistant commissioner of the Met Police
Following the publication of the latest batch of Epstein Files, Scotland Yard launched an investigation into allegations Mandelson had passed sensitive government and market information to Epstein when he was the business secretary.
On February 7, detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s specialist crime team carried out raids on two properties linked to the former Labour grandee. The force confirmed the raids were part of its ongoing investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office, but Mandelson was not arrested.
Police officers were seen removing files, documents and computers from the properties in Wiltshire and in the Regents Park area of central London.
At the time, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Hayley Sewart, of the Met Police, said: “This will be a complex investigation requiring a significant amount of further evidence gathering and analysis. It will take some time to do this work comprehensively, and we will not be providing a running commentary.”
The Telegraph, London
Read more on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest:
- Live updates: Police ask Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s protection officers what they ‘saw or heard’ working for him
- Analysis: At Sandringham, a disgraceful and shameful scandal reaches the gates, writes David Crowe
- What we know so far: The archaic law threatening a former prince with life in prison
- The Epstein files: Why King Charles will support British police investigation
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