THE UK Government has been accused of refusing to release documents about Prince Andrew’s past role as a trade envoy, according to reports.
Author Andrew Lownie, who is currently writing a biography of the disgraced royal, has reportedly been unable to access certain files on the Duke of York during his time as UK representative in the Middle East.
All three Whitehall departments have refused Lownie’s Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for specific details about Prince Andrew, the author has claimed.
However, he was able to obtain documents that showed what topics should be censored when information requests are received.
Lownie claims he was told he could not see certain files with government departments directing him to a long list of exemptions under FOI, including unexplained references to “national security” or departments claiming they can “neither confirm nor deny” they have the information he requested.
Among those requests, the Foreign Office told Lownie they cannot provide him with information relating to the prince’s visits to Egypt, the UAE, Kuwait, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, partly on the grounds of cost.
The prince’s visit to Saudi Arabia in 2011 was also rejected due to the fact it would cost the department too much to collect the information for the author.
Lownie told Declassified: “Over the last four years, I have made over a hundred FOI requests…without eliciting any information on Prince Andrew’s decade as a taxpayer-funded Special Trade Representative.
“Every possible exemption has been deployed to avoid releasing papers, which by law many of which should by now be in the National Archives.”
Last month, Defence Minister Vernon Coaker (above) told peers that a Ministry of Defence review of “areas that could have been involved” in Prince Andrew’s role as trade envoy “has not produced records of briefings to the prince after he left the navy”.
Lownie told Declassified he does not believe Coaker and has questioned a response by the Foreign Office that they hold no files on the prince.
Despite Lownie being unable to access information from the three Whitehall departments regarding Prince Andrew’s time as a trade envoy, he was able to obtain the MoD’s Blue Guide.
The document outlines which topics should be blocked from freedom of information requests and reveals that Saudi Arabia is singled out for special treatment, in a move which could help protect the country from having to reveal information about Britain’s largest arms market.
Prince Andrew (below) visited Saudi Arabia six times when he was the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment.
Under a heading, Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Sensitivity Issues, the MoD’s Blue Guide stated, “note that in most Gulf countries the rulers, members of their family and many senior officials have been in office for a considerable period of time”, according to Declassified.
In a passage about international sensitivity, the document's guidance refers to “specific concerns relating to the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, and COCOM records”, which is believed to be the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls.
The guidance adds: “General sensitivity concerns also apply to Arabian Peninsula and Gulf countries.”
It then refers to “examples of potential international sensitivity,” which are all redacted.
The latest version of the guide is dated August last year and was given to Lownie last month.
Despite the MoD agreeing to give Lownie its redacted Blue Guide, the Foreign Office and Cabinet Office declined to hand over their equivalent manuals.
Lownie has suggested that a royal register should be established and that it should contain information about the business interests of the royal family and how they spend taxpayers' money.
