Right royal cover-up as fears develop as palace recordsdata might reveal Queen protected Andrew

King Charles decision to grant police full access to the so-called “Andrew files” as part of an investigation into Prince Andrew’s alleged misconduct has raised fears among royal officials

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The King’s decision to hand over the “Andrew files” to cops could expose a Palace-gate cover-up, Royal officials fear. Charles has ordered Buckingham Palace staff to open up all records to detectives investigating “Prince” Andrew following his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

However, royal officials fear the documents in the files could reveal some “were aware of what Andrew was doing and covered it up’’. A source claimed: “If that did happen it would have been in Buckingham Palace under an earlier leadership.”

Andrew spent his 66th birthday last Thursday in police custody being quizzed by detectives over claims he shared sensitive information with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein while deployed as a trade envoy for Britain.

Officers are reportedly probing links between the pair stretching back 15 years. Neither King Charles nor Prince William would have been party to any decisions taken at that time.

Nevertheless, the move threatens to drag beloved Queen Elizabeth – who died in 2022 aged 96 – into the scandal. Andrew has consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.

Police will be given access to documents and emails along with government files relating to Andrew’s work as trade envoy. The Palace has declined to comment on whether it is expecting police search teams inside the King’s official residence where Andrew – now known as “Mountbatten-Windsor” – had a private office and apartment until 2022.

Police said searches would continue on Monday at Royal Lodge, near Windsor Castle, the Berkshire residence where Andrew was based until the King kicked him out earlier this month. Detectives have reportedly been given leeway to “follow the evidence”.

The Metropolitan Police has called on all royal protection officers who have worked with Andrew to report any suspicions of wrong-doing. Police are likely to want to interview some of the royal staff.

One source said while there was a relief among some that the case had been taken over by the police there was also a realisation that the Royal Family had lost control of its course. The source said: “The story will run for months on end, maybe years, and the Royals have no idea what will play out with further documents or evidence from Andrew’s personal protection officers and royal official.”

One former aide said: “The real problem for the Palace is they can’t get ahead of it.” A close friend of William, Prince of Wales, said: “The time of grace has passed for the Royal Family.

“There are a hell of a lot of questions that have been spawned. As distasteful as some of those questions are they should be being war-gamed so they’re not playing catch up.

“They need to be proactive about getting the dirty washing out and making sure they’re the ones who get it out, not others. Really bold moves are what is needed now.”

Andrew was able to cruise through life with so few checks until his disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis when the Queen finally forced him to step back from public life. A former courtier said: “Andrew was an idiot with bad judgment.

“When we travelled overseas and met staff at embassies and high commissions you’d be left with the impression he was a pain in the arse, pompous and unpleasant wherever he went – a clumsy buffoon. But the feeling was the late Queen was beyond reproach so at the Palace no-one ever took Andrew to task because of her opinion of him.

“You just left it alone because she was so fond of him. So the question may end up being ‘what’s a cover-up and what was just left alone because of the Queen?’

“Questions were never asked. Things were never probed.”

Another ex-Palace aide said: “There was unease, especially about some of the company he kept. He had a very effective team working for him who protected him and made life very difficult for anyone who asked questions.”

“It was very hard for a mother to be objective about her son. The Queen’s reputation is going to take a bit of a battering over all this and the only person oblivious to it was lying in the back of a car on the Norfolk roads this week.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment on the cover-up fears. Andrew had not responded to a request for comment.

The Daily Star says…

The Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal shows no sign of going away soon

He has, of course, consistently denied any wrongdoing and the law must be allowed to take its course. But there are mounting questions over who knew what and when.

And they could cause a serious headache for the Royal Family. Despite efforts by King Charles and Prince William to distance themselves from Andrew in recent months, polling already suggests the monarchy’s popularity is plummeting.

Any suggestion that there has been a cover-up could cause irreparable damage to the institution. Put simply, the public won’t stand for it.

Although there may now be an attempt to effectively blame it on previous figures, the Firm is responsible as a whole for what has gone on. This crisis is far from over yet.

It is in the interests of everyone that the royals do all that they can to assist the process.

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