A SECRECY rule banning the release of official documents about Prince Andrew until 2065 is “crazy”, according to Royal biographer Andrew Lownie.
He told GB News: “The 105 years after their birth is a blanket restriction on all the Royals so for example, we can’t look at anything to do with the queen until 2031, but I agree it’s crazy.
“I actually approached him and offered to interview him, interview some of his friends in order to help him shape the narrative. He refused to do that and in fact asked for no one to talk to me for my book.
“So clearly, the files are important but we’ve also got other problems. The Department of Trade and the Foreign Office claimed they cannot identify any papers relating to his time as trade envoy.”
In a discussion During Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, he continued: “My feeling is this job was done not as a member of the Royal Family but as a member of the Government, in effect, promoting British trade.
“There have been lots of questions raised and more coming up in my research about how far he was, in some ways, supporting his own interests rather than promoting British interests.
“There are a number of people on these trade delegations who, for example, lent him money, paid off debts, and I think we’re entitled in a mature democracy to know how public figures behave.”
He added: “I’ve talked to over 100 people now, so there’s going to be plenty in the book, but I work with documents. I would like to be able to back up some of the material with documentation.
“But even for example, his parachute training in 1978 has been closed on the grounds of health and safety, law enforcement and national security.
“So it’s about a sort of an attitude which needs to change in government, because otherwise I think we’re no worse than a banana republic.”
