This week’s Lownie Report Podcast looks at a bruising couple of weeks for the Royal Family, from the unanswered questions surrounding the 33,000 Jonathan Rowland emails handed to the Palace in 2020 to the National Audit Office’s preliminary report into Crown Estate properties.
The central question remains why material apparently relevant to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s business dealings was not passed to the police, who inside the Palace saw it, and what the Queen, the then Prince Charles and senior courtiers knew about it.
The Palace’s refusal to give a proper account only deepens the impression of an institution still hoping difficult questions will disappear and that the scandal will blow over.
We also look at the wider issue of royal finances, including the subsidised accommodation enjoyed by Beatrice and Eugenie, Andrew’s arrangements at Royal Lodge, and Edward and Sophie’s ability to rent out office space at Bagshot.
These arrangements raise serious questions about what counts as private royal income, what should properly return to the Exchequer, and whether benefits in kind have been declared.
Norman Baker and I have launched our campaign for greater transparency because the present system is too opaque: royal wills are sealed, the Duchies enjoy special treatment, archives remain heavily controlled, and Parliament has too little ability to scrutinise an institution supported by public money.
Finally, we discuss the wider pattern of concealment around Andrew, Epstein, Mandelson and those who operated in the same world of access, money and influence. I discuss the parallels between the continued cover-up by the government of the truth about the circumstances of Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador and the way that Andrew has been protected.
I also address new allegations relating to Andrew’s conduct and his history of getting into scraps with his nephews, with royal staff, and with former business associates.
We end by remembering Lady Pamela Hicks, a remarkable witness to twentieth-century history, from the abdication to Partition, and someone whose memories and generosity were invaluable to my work on Mountbatten.
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