Stephen Day, an ex-ambassador and former head of the Foreign Office’s Middle East section, is calling for Prince Andrew to step down as a UK trade envoy.
He’s written to three government departments including Foreign Secretary William Hague, Prime Minister’s foreign affairs advisor and Business Secretary Vince Cable to demand action.
His letter said: “The duke’s activities are doing such serious damage to the Royal Family itself and to Britain’s political, diplomatic and commercial interests that an entirely new role should be found for him as soon as possible.”
Prince Andrew could,e be forced to leave trade role
Prince Andrew’s friendship with Azerbaijan dictator
He also expressed his concern about the stories about Prince Andrew’s relationships with brutal regimes and how this could affect UK’s future Middle East affairs.
“To use a member of our Royal Family for such purposes is seen by Arabs as crude and unworthy of our historic connections,” Mr Day wrote.
Tom Porteous, UK director of Human Rights Watch and an advisor to William Hague, said last night: ‘The Government … needs to give [Prince Andrew] a crash course in human rights and corporate responsibility”.
“It’s pretty clear that he hasn’t really thought about these kinds of things.”
Meanwhile, Buckingham Palace spokesperson has confirmed that Andrew had an ‘unplanned, informal meeting’ with Gaddafi in August 2008.
