Freshly unsealed U.S. court documents have placed Prince Andrew under renewed scrutiny, alleging that he shared confidential UK government trade and investment information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as Britain's special representative for trade and investment. The disclosures suggest that sensitive briefings tied to government-funded projects and official overseas visits were forwarded to Epstein years after his 2008 conviction, raising questions about protocol breaches and potential national-security implications.
Andrew held the trade envoy role from 2001 to 2011, a decade in which he represented the UK on commercial missions designed to attract foreign investment. The newly surfaced emails indicate that his relationship with Epstein continued well beyond the financier's conviction for soliciting a minor, contradicting Andrew's long-standing assertion that he cut ties shortly thereafter.
One of the most damaging episodes centers on correspondence dated Christmas Eve 2010. According to the documents, Andrew sent Epstein a briefing that included details of investment opportunities linked to the reconstruction of Helmand Province, an area then under the direct oversight of British armed forces and funded by UK government resources. The timing is notable, coming weeks after Andrew told the BBC's Newsnight that his final contact with Epstein had been an early-December meeting in New York intended to end their association.
The email trail suggests this was not an isolated lapse. On 30 November 2010, Andrew reportedly received an official trip summary prepared by aides and forwarded it to Epstein within minutes. Earlier messages from October that year appear to have alerted Epstein to Andrew's upcoming official travel to Singapore, Vietnam, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, information that could have allowed private business figures to align themselves with royal trade delegations.
By February 2011, the correspondence was still active. In an email dated 9 February, Andrew hinted that Epstein might have an interest in a private-equity firm the Duke had visited only days earlier, further undermining claims that the relationship had been severed.
The disclosures have drawn in senior political figures from the period. Vince Cable, who served as business secretary at the time, said he had been unaware of any such sharing of sensitive information. "I was unaware of Andrew... sharing information about investment opportunities [in Afghanistan] before, this is the first I've heard of it," Cable said when asked about the allegations.
Official guidelines governing UK trade envoys state that while the role is not part of the civil service, it "carries with it a duty of confidentiality in relation to information received," including sensitive commercial and political material. The obligation does not end when an envoy leaves office, and the position is explicitly covered by the UK's Official Secrets legislation.
