Buckingham Palace 'handed emails about Andrew sharing confidential information as trade envoy six years ago'
It has been revealed Buckingham Palace was given emails six years ago that reportedly would have shown Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was sharing confidential government information while a trade envoy, according to court documents.
Listen to this article
An archive of 30,000 emails, containing information about the former Duke of York's controversial financial dealings, was given to the Lord Chamberlain in 2020, it has now emerged.
Lord Chamberlain was the most senior officer in the Royal Household whose role, according to the Royal Family website, includes "overseeing the conduct and general business of the Royal Household".
In 2020, the post of Lord Chamberlain was held by Lord Peel.
The emails had reportedly been taken from a personal business contact of the former Prince.
When asked about what happened to the emails, Buckingham Palace responded saying: "Since there is an ongoing police enquiry concerning Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, it is not possible to provide any comment on these matters."
Last week, Thames Valley Police issued a new appeal for people to come forward with any information. The force had widened its probe into Mountbatten-Windsor to include possible sexual offences.
It is understood detectives are investigating a range of offences including sexual misconduct and corruption which fall within the scope of misconduct in public office.
Mountbatten-Windsor has always rejected any wrongdoing in his associations with Jeffrey Epstein and denied any personal gain from his role as trade envoy.
On Friday LBC reported that the force is investigating claims by a woman who said she was sent by Epstein to the former prince’s residence at Royal Lodge in Windsor in 2010.
Her lawyer is co-operating with the police but she has not been interviewed.
She has not lodged a criminal complaint over fears of loss of privacy and unwanted publicity, the Mail on Sunday reported.
It was reported today that the search of court documents has revealed that a large cache of emails relating to Mountbatten-Windsor's finances had been sent to Palace officials, years before the current inquiries began.
The emails were the subject of a legal dispute and documents from a High Court judgment in April 2021 which illustrate that a "copy of the archive" had been provided for the "Lord Chamberlain in May 2020".
In June 2022, a subsequent High Court ruling refers to an email, dated July 10 2020, saying the emails had been "delivered to Buckingham Palace".
The contents of the archive, with emails up to June 2013, are not fully known, but there have been glim
Earlier in 2026, the Telegraph published emails showing that in 2010 Mountbatten-Windsor had requested a confidential briefing about issues in Iceland's banking industry from Treasury officials.
He then shared it with a personal business contact Jonathan Rowland whose father David Rowland had taken over the Luxembourg arm of a failed Icelandic bank, Kaupthing, which later became Banque Havilland.
Jonathan Rowland confirmed these published messages about Icelandic banks had been taken from his account and were part of legal proceedings.
It shows they would have been part of the archive later sent to the Palace. And it was in those court battles over the alleged theft of the emails that it was revealed that copies had been given to the Palace.
The emails are significant as they relate to a highly controversial time in Mountbatten-Windsor's financial dealings with the Rowlands and Banque Havilland, which later faced sanctions from regulators in the UK and the EU.
While it is not known what happened to the emails shared with the Palace, the release of the Epstein Files earlier this year in the US showed Mountbatten-Windsor's relationship with the Rowlands.
The Epstein files show Mountbatten-Windsor promoting their business ventures and gave personal assurances for David Rowland as his "trusted money man".
His ex-wife and the former Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson was also recorded as receiving a "Rowland bank loan".
According to court documents, the emails sent to the Palace had been taken from Jonathan Rowland's account after a dispute with a business colleague.
They had then been obtained by a retail entrepreneur Kevin Stanford, former majority owner of All Saints, who had been in a separate dispute over investments in the Kaupthing bank.
Court documents say that Stanford offered the archive of emails to Monaco and Luxembourg authorities, and shared them with a number of people, including the Lord Chamberlain.
Jonathan Rowland has previously denied that he or his father had used contacts from his travels with Andrew to promote business deals and investments.
Stanford also shared some of the emails with a journalist, the judgment says.
Thames Valley Police was asked whether it now had access to the 30,000 emails discussed in the High Court five years ago.
A spokesperson said they couldn't comment on specific information, but said: "We are aware of the allegations circulating in the public domain and encourage anyone with relevant information to get in touch."
A government spokesperson said: "We are fully cooperating with Thames Valley Police, and last week we published documents about the creation of the role and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's appointment in 2001."