Queen Elizabeth II was ‘very keen’ Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had ‘prominent role’ promoting UK interests, documents show

By Christian Edwards, CNN

London (CNN) — The late Queen Elizabeth II was “very keen” for her son, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, to take on a “prominent role” in promoting Britain’s national interests, a former official previously said, according to a trove of documents relating to the former prince’s appointment as a British trade envoy in 2001.

In a memo to the then-Foreign Secretary Robin Cook dated February 2000, David Wright, then chief executive of government body British Trade International, said that “the Queen’s wish” was for Mountbatten-Windsor to serve as a trade envoy, and that the role would “fit well” with the end of his career in the British Navy.

The exchange was detailed in a batch of documents released Thursday by the British government relating to Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as trade envoy, a role from which the former prince stood down in 2011 over his ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Lawmakers agreed in February to publish documents related to Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment to the post, days after the disgraced royal 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 its investigation into Epstein that raised questions about the former prince’s dealings with the financier while he was a trade envoy.

In the wake of the arrest, Britain’s Liberal Democrats, an opposition party, asked the government to release all papers related to the creation of the role of “Special Representative for Trade and Investment” and Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment to that position.

This is a developing story. More to come.

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