The Guardian<\/a>, Andrew reportedly pestered ministers about getting a bigger role in government as her served as trade envoy. A senior figure said he asked ministers for a more significant job on a number of occasions.<\/p>\nThey said: “He approached ministers personally, saying \u2018Can you find a bigger role for me?\u2019 Trade envoys are not considered a very important part of the state, they are mainly tokenistic. Andrew seemed to feel he had no real role in life, but had something to offer in terms of contacts around the world, particularly royalty.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, others who worked closely with Andrew at the time claimed he was widely regarded as a liability. This related to both his personality and the way he carried out the job.<\/p>\n
A second senior figure said: “The classic thing would be for him to turn up \u2013 and being a royal would get access in some countries \u2013 do a lunch meeting but then disappear for six hours and come back with two new Rolexes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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“What I saw was a rather unpleasant, arrogant, entitled person who was on the hustle and couldn\u2019t tell the difference between the public interest and his private interests.<\/p>\n
“It created quite a sense of general distaste. It was always never completely clear who would pay for his trips \u2013 the Foreign Office, business department or the palace. And it wasn\u2019t cheap. He went to Davos one year and insisted on the most expensive chalet.”<\/p>\n
The cross-party business and trade committee are expected to investigate whether more could have been done to challenge Andrew’s alleged behaviour. They will also look into how his actions could have also been illegal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n