"The late Queen Elizabeth II wanted her second son, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, to be given a prominent role promoting ”national interests”.

Papers published by ministers show that the late Queen made it known that she was keen for Andrew to take on the role of trade envoy when her cousin, the Duke of Kent, decided to step back from it.

A memo to the then Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, written in 2000 by Sir David Wright, who was then chief executive of British Trade International, said ”The Queen’s wish is that the Duke of Kent should be succeeded in this role by the Duke of York.”

The memo continues ”The Queen is very keen that the Duke of York should take a prominent role in the promotion of national interests. No other member of the Royal Family would be available to succeed the Duke of Kent.”

And it concludes ”The Duke of York’s adoption of his role would be a very natural fit.”

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor took on the role in 2001, after the departure from it of the Duke of Kent.

The message is one of a number of papers shared by government ministers after the Liberal Democrats tabled a Humble Address calling for the publication of papers relating to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s role as trade envoy and also to any vetting and correspondence from Peter Mandelson."


https://royalcentral.co.uk/royal-news/andrew-mountbatten-windsor-12-217805/