Queen Elizabeth pressed for her son Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to be made a government trade envoy back in 2000, according to documents released on Thursday.
Mountbatten-Windsor, brother of King Charles, served as the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment between 2001 and 2011 in an unpaid role that allowed him to travel the world meeting senior business and government figures.
David Wright, the chief executive of British Trade International, said that before the appointment was made, he had a “wide-ranging discussion” with the late queen’s private secretary about Andrew’s appointment.
“The Queen’s wish is that the Duke of Kent should be succeeded in this role [as trade envoy] by the Duke of York,” Wright said in one document released on Thursday, referring to Mountbatten-Windsor’s previous title.
The government agreed to release 11 documents after an opposition party used a rare parliamentary device to request the publication of files about the appointment of Mountbatten-Windsor.
Chris Bryant, a junior trade minister, said in a written statement to parliament that there was no evidence that formal due diligence or security vetting was carried out at the time.
