Prince Andrew papers to stay secret until 2065

Files relating to the Duke of York’s dealings as trade envoy will remain under wraps in his lifetime, amid ban deployed to shield royal family from scrutiny.

Documents relating to the Duke of York come under a qualified exemption rule. Picture: Getty

Official documents relating to the Duke of York are to be kept secret until 2065, a historian writing a biography of Prince Andrew 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.

Andrew 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 said.

The rule came to light after Lownie made a freedom of information request to the Foreign Office.

The rule came to light after historian, Andrew Lownie, submitted a freedom of information request to the Foreign Office. Picture: Alamy

Most government papers transferred to the National Archives in Kew are allowed to be released after 20 years. However, papers relating to the royal family are treated differently.

There is an absolute exemption from freedom of information requests for papers relating to the sovereign, the heir and the second in line to the throne. That means that government departments can turn down requests without having to justify them in terms of the public interest.

There is also a qualified exemption for other members of the royal family, including Prince Andrew, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Kents and Princess Alexandra until 105 years after their birth.

Lownie said a series of other exemptions - including national security, law enforcement and data protection - is deployed to shield members of the royal family from scrutiny and “preserve the mystique”. Lownie has been trying to use freedom of information legislation to access documents relating to Andrew’s time as a trade envoy.

His attempts to see papers about Andrew’s meetings and travel arrangements when he was travelling the world on behalf of the government have already been met with frustration.

“This culture of secrecy is often the default position,” he said.

Lownie said he was told by both the Department for Business and Trade and the Foreign Office that they did not have any papers relating to a trip undertaken by Andrew.

“I know from talking to diplomats that both of them should have material,” he said.

Lownie spent years - and considerable sums of his own money - fighting for public access to Earl Mountbatten of Burma’s personal diaries and letters.

The Times