Prince Andrew used his royal position to demand a special briefing from the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) weeks before launching a tirade against the agency’s “idiotic” investigators at a lunch with businessmen in Kyrgyzstan.
The prince, who is also a UK trade ambassador, was briefed on the investigation into allegations of bribery by arms firm BAE at Buckingham Palace in May 2008.
Soon after, believing he was speaking in private to a group of sympathetic British businesspeople, he appeared to condone bribery and scorned the work of the SFO’s anti-corruption investigators in investigating the Saudi royal family.
Andrew’s remarks, which have already led to calls for his resignation as the official British trade envoy to the Middle East and Asia, emerged this week when the Guardian published a leaked diplomatic cable from the US ambassador who was also present at the event.
Andrew’s remarks were on Tuesday condemned by British Business Secretary Vince Cable, who said it “was not helpful” for the Duke of York to comment on policy.
“I would just make it absolutely clear that we regard bribery overseas as illegal and unacceptable,” he said. “That is not a matter for Prince Andrew; that’s a matter for the government.”
Two senior SFO sources on Tuesday confirmed that BAE case-handlers had protested in strong terms at the time at the request for a briefing by Prince Andrew and insisted that he only be given publicly available information.
“They all thought the request was well out of order,” one said. They felt “very uncomfortable.”
At the time, the SFO was under intense pressure from Saudi and UK arms company lobbying. The anti-corruption agency was forced to suspend its Saudi investigation by then-British prime minister Tony Blair, who said it jeopardized crucial intelligence sharing relationship with the Arab state.
At the time Saudi royals were intensely sensitive about the investigation into secret payments from the British firm .
SFO Director Richard Alderman was summoned to Buckingham Palace shortly afterwards, on the morning of May 13, 2008, a palace spokesman said.
Asked if Andrew had discussed the BAE case at that meeting, the spokesman said: “I would be
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