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The British government said it will not oppose the release of documents pertaining to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s appointment as an international trade envoy.

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On Tuesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s trade minister said the files will not be made public until after a police investigation into the disgraced former prince is completed after a motion was put forth by the Liberal Democrats.

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“The government will, of course, comply with the terms of the humble address in full,” the Labour Party’s Chris Bryant said, reports The Guardian.

“As I say, we support the motion. But as the house will know, there is a live police investigation into the former Duke of York after his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office.”

Allegedly shared trade reports

Andrew is accused of sharing government reports while employed as a trade envoy with Epstein, according to emails released by the U.S. Justice Department.

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The reports Andrew shared with the late U.S. financier, who was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019 while locked up on federal charges of sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York, followed trade visits to Vietnam, Singapore and China in 2010.

In addition, the former prince is also alleged to have tipped off Epstein to gold and uranium investment opportunities in Afghanistan.

As an opposition MP, Bryant had called for Andrew to be fired from the role back in 2011, saying the former prince was rude and arrogant.

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Police investigation ongoing

But the release of the trade documents must wait for justice to take its course, he said.

“As the police have rightly said, it is absolutely crucial that the integrity of their investigation is protected and now these proceedings are under way. It would be wrong of me to say anything that might prejudice them.

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“Nor will the government be able to put into the public domain anything that is required by the police for them to conduct their inquiries, unless and until the police are satisfied.”

Andrew saw his royal titles stripped by his brother King Charles last October after controversy grew over his links to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and shocking revelations published in Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, who accused the former prince of having sex with her when she was 17.

The scandal involving the former prince’s appointment in 2001 for the trade role that lasted a decade is about government transparency.

“If there are things that are embarrassing for the government, who cares? I want to make sure we end up getting justice for the victims,” Bryant said.

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Personal massages, excessive travel

In recent days, Andrew has been accused of charging the public purse for personal massages and taxpayers footed the bill for excessive travel.

One former civil servant with the trade department said he declined to pay for Andrew’s request to cover “massage services” following a trip to the Middle East, but claimed senior staff overruled him.

“I thought it was wrong … I’d said we mustn’t pay it, but we ended up paying it anyway,” the source told the BBC.

Another source who oversaw finances in this area confirmed the allegation of massages on the public dime after seeing similar expense reimbursements for Andrew’s trips.

“I couldn’t believe it … it was like it wasn’t real money, they weren’t spending any of their own money,” said the former Whitehall senior official, who advised ministers and helped develop policy.

The former official said there were no checks on Andrew’s trade expeditions as they were given a “rubber stamp” of approval by very senior officials.

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