Trade Envoy

The monarch may have thought the role would keep her ‘favourite’ second son out of trouble. How wrong she wasThat Queen Elizabeth II was “very keen” for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to take on a “prominent role in the promotion of national interests” as a trade envoy in 2001 demonstrates the fierce support the late monarch always gave her second son.Knowing he was “the spare”, and undoubtedly acutely aware of the pitfalls of that position – her sister, Princess Margaret, had struggled to find her own role – a mother’s instinct would be to protect, so far as she could. Continue reading...

Documents released by government also show queen was ‘very keen’ for former prince to have prominent roleUK politics live – latest updatesFormal security vetting and due diligence appears not to have been carried out before the appointment of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as trade envoy, the government has said, as it emerged that that the late queen was “very keen” for her son to take up a prominent role in promoting Britain’s interests.The first batch of documents relating to the appointment of the former prince as trade envoy in 2001 by Tony Blair have revealed a memo addressed to Robin Cook dated 25 February 2000, in which the then chief executive of British Trade International, David Wright, said Queen Elizabeth II’s “wish” had been for Mountbatten-Windsor, then the Duke of York, to take on the role. Continue reading...

Brown calls for police to look into former prince’s use of public funds as he says he had colleague raise issue in 2008Gordon Brown has revealed he ordered that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor be questioned about incurring “unacceptable costs” as a trade envoy in 2008, as he called for the police to widen their inquiry to include the use of public funds.The former prime minister said he asked a colleague from the business department to question Mountbatten-Windsor about his travel expenses. Continue reading...