You’ve heard of the Epstein Files, but we’ve never seen a different trove of documents: the records of Prince Andrew’s years as a British trade envoy. For months/years, people have wanted access to the documents related to Andrew’s trade-envoy years, which lasted roughly from 2001 through 2011. Andrew only lost his envoy position because of his connection to Jeffrey Epstein, which everyone thought (at the time) was a separate issue from his trade-envoy work. It turns out, Andrew was most likely using his trade-envoy job to access confidential information, then pass along that info to Epstein and his associates as “payment” for access to Epstein’s girls. Additionally, it’s more than likely that Andrew was abusing girls and women as he traveled around to other countries. Well, in newly released documents, we’re learning more about how Andrew even got this trade position. Unsurprisingly, his mother was “very keen.”

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.

[From CNN]

As I said, unsurprising. It turns out that QEII sent this memo and everyone was like “sure,” and that was the extent of the vetting process too. To be fair, it sounds like Peter Mandelson also vouched for Andrew, given that they knew each other through Jeffrey Epstein as well. It’s significant that the British government is even releasing these documents though – these docs are not going to make anyone look good.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar. Cover courtesy of The Sun.