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(NewsNation) — The U.K. government is accused of covering up travel details on former Prince Andrew.
A Royal Visits Committee document from 2004, discussing an extra £90,000 ($121,000) for Andrew’s overseas trips, was supposed to be released by the National Archive but was marked “closed” due to a legal exemption, as it related to the royal family, just before publication, the Daily Mail reported.
“There should be no royal exemption at all. But this exemption surely doesn’t apply to Andrew now he’s no longer a royal,” Graham Smith, the CEO of anti-monarchy group Republic.
“The most likely reason for this attempt to stop disclosure is pressure from the palace. The royals have sought to keep everything under wraps when it comes to Andrew, not to protect him but to protect themselves.”
Smith said the royals “are one of the most secretive institutions in the UK” and that documents about Andrew “should be made public.”
Former Prince Andrew’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein
Andrew’s controversial relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been a persistent headache for the royal family.
Andrew told BBC “Newsnight” in a 2019 interview that he met Epstein in 1999, though that claim appears to conflict with notes from his private secretary in 2011 stating the two met in the early 1990s.
The former English prince, Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein 
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – DECEMBER 18: (EMBARGOED FOR PUBLICATION IN UK NEWSPAPERS UNTIL 24 HOURS AFTER CREATE DATE AND TIME) Prince Andrew, Duke of York attends a Christmas lunch for members of the Royal Family hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on December 18, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
Virginia Giuffre sued Andrew in 2021, accusing him of sexually abusing her as a teenager after Epstein allegedly introduced them in London in 2001, with Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly coercing her.
Andrew denied ever meeting Giuffre. The two reached a settlement “in principle” in 2022.
Giuffre died by suicide in Australia in April 2025.
Following the posthumous release of Giuffre’s memoir in October 2025, Andrew gave up his title of Duke of York amid renewed public scrutiny.
NewsNation’s Safia Samee Ali contributed to this report