The UK Foreign Office has announced that documents related to Prince Andrew’s international business trips, including interactions with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, will not be released until at least 2065.
The decision regarding Prince Andrew’s taxpayer-funded trips from 2001 to 2011 prevents public scrutiny of the files during his lifetime.
The British government responded to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from royal biographer Andrew Lownie with the date after Lownie called the decision “absurd” and demanded the information.
Prince Andrew, 63, was the UK’s special representative for trade and industry for 10 years from 2001.
Mr Lownie told the Telegraph: “It is extraordinary that files relating to Prince Andrew, the subject of my next biography, will be closed until 2065.
“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.”
The Independent report: Duke’s tenure ended in 2011 after he was forced to resign when a photograph emerged of him meeting Jeffrey Epstein in New York just after the convicted pedophile had been released from jail after serving an 18-month sentence for sexual offenses.
Under the Freedom of Information Act (2000), documents relating to the Royal household are exempt.
The Information Rights Unit of the Foreign Office said an exemption to releasing information relating to communications with, or on the behalf of, the late Queen, was “absolute”.
Mr Lownie said the UK needed a much more “grown up” approach to royal records. He claimed a delay in releasing information would create a “vacuum” for “fantasists”.
“Their release would go some way to restoring trust in institutions, not least the monarchy”, he added.
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