04 September 2023 , 01:13
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Prince Andrew would have to live to the age of 105 before government files on his activities can be released under an "absurd" rule – and one royal biographer has called on the King to do away with it altogether.
Under normal circumstances, any government records transferred to The National Archives at Kew from Whitehall are automatically kept secret for 20 years – but a little known exception applies to members of the Firm. Instead, any files involving British royalty are sealed away under lock and key until 105 years from that member's birth.
That means that details of Prince Andrew's business trips in his role as trade ambassador for the United Kingdom cannot be accessed by Freedom of Information requests. That is despite those trips often being funded directly by the taxpayer.
A royal biographer writing a book on Prince Andrew has slammed the rule as "absurd"Royal biographer Andrew Lownie, who is writing a book on the Duke of York's life, has hit out at the rule – and called on King Charles to change it. He told the Telegraph a "culture of secrecy" surrounded royals when it came to accessing information. It is understood that files on the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and Princess Alexandra are all also sequestered under the same rule.
Mr Lownie went on: "We are in the absurd position that Prince Harry can reveal the most intimate details of royal life from months ago for personal commercial gain and Royal households currently brief against each other, yet historians cannot look at files.
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'Many questions remain about his role as trade envoy, a public appointment paid for by the taxpayer, and his associations with figures such as Jeffrey Epstein. There is also a strong public interest in knowing, for example, who is paying for his security now he is no longer a working royal."
The Prince gave up his post as trade envoy in 2011 following intense scrutiny over his relationships with a series of controversial figures, including convicted paedophile Epstein. However, speaking at the time a spokeswoman stressed Andrew would continue to undertake official overseas trips as a member of the Royal Family in support of Britain's foreign interest.