Britain's Deputy Trade Minister Chris Bryant said that his country's authorities will publish documents detailing the relationship between the King's brother, former Prince Andrew, during his time as a trade envoy, and Jeffrey Epstein.
In late February, Parliament called on the government to release documents relating to the appointment of Andrew as Britain’s trade representative.
Bryant had previously stated that the government would release the documents "as soon as legally possible." This implies that documents related to the police investigation into Andrew's misconduct may remain confidential. Andrew served as his country's trade representative from 2001 to 2011.
In a letter to Parliament, Bryant wrote: "We have begun searching for archival documents in the Department, and have ordered a parallel search in other departments, particularly the Foreign Office and the Cabinet Office."
It was noted that many documents dating back to 2001 and earlier are stored only in paper files, so searching for the necessary files will take a long time.
The Deputy Minister added: "I understand and share my colleagues' desire to provide Parliament with relevant information as soon as possible. I will continue to keep the House of Commons informed of our work in this area."
In February, British police briefly detained Andrew in connection with his ties to Epstein. Law enforcement is investigating an incident involving the sending of government documents to Epstein.
In March, the British newspaper The Times reported that Andrew's case could expand to include investigations into suspected corruption.
Also in March, Scotland Yard's head of detectives, Mark Rowley, announced that police were investigating "a range of alleged sexual offenses" to determine whether further criminal action against Andrew was warranted. He said police lacked the testimony of American human rights activist Virginia Giuffre, who accused Andrew of raping her and later committed suicide.
