Prince Andrew’s secret papers under lock and key until 2065

Official documents relating to Prince Andrew’s controversial past will be kept under lock and key for decades. Here’s why.

Official documents relating to Prince Andrew are to be kept secret until 2065, a historian writing a biography of the disgraced royal has been told.

The ban is part of a general rule that documents relating to members of the royal family must remain closed until 105 years after their birth, The Times reports.

The shock rule came to light when biographer Andrew Lownie made a freedom of information request to Britain’s Foreign Office.

Prince Andrew departs the Easter Sunday church service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor last April. Picture: Getty Images

The biographer had been trying to access documents relating to Prince Andrew’s controversial ten-year role as a trade envoy.

The Duke of York was appointed the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment in 2001 after retiring from the Royal Navy.

The role took him on expenses-paid delegations all over the world, and comments about his spending, including his use of helicopters, earned him the nickname “Airmiles Andy”.

Papers relating to Prince Andrew’s role as envoy will remain secret until 2065. Picture: Getty Images

Prince Andrew lives with former wife Sarah Ferguson at Royal Lodge in Windsor. Picture: Getty Images

Dr Lownie told The Times there was a “culture of secrecy” around details of Prince Andrew’s meetings and travel arrangements.

The rule means Prince Andrew would be aged 105, should he live that long, when the files are finally released.

It comes as Prince Andrew shows he is firmly back in the royal fold by staying at Balmoral Castle along with other senior royals.

Dr Lownie, who has written books about the Mountbattens and the Duke of Windsor, had been under the impression that documents were closed for 100 years, not 105.

“It does seem quite extreme,” he told The Times.

Prince Andrew in 2011 during his controversial time as UK trade envoy. Picture: AP

Most British government papers transferred to the National Archives in Kew can be released to the public after 20 years.

However, papers relating to the sovereign, the heir and the second in line to the throne are exempt from freedom of information requests.

Dr Lownie told The Telegraph it was ironic that information was being sealed until 2065, when Prince Harry was able to reveal intimate details about the family and royal households.

“Many questions remain about (Prince Andrew’s) role as trade envoy, a public appointment paid for by the taxpayer, and his associations with figures such as Jeffrey Epstein,” he told The Telegraph.

“There is also a strong public interest in knowing, for example, who is paying for his security now he is no longer a working royal.”

Originally published as Prince Andrew’s secret papers under lock and key until 2065