(The Guardian): The government has been urged to explain why Prince Andrew has met four foreign heads of state in the past six months and embarked on two full-scale government trade missions despite stepping down as the UK's special representative for trade. The Duke of York announced last July that he would relinquish the role following criticism of his association with a convicted child sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, and business connections with dictators including Colonel Gaddafi. But palace records reveal he has remained at the heart of the UK government's export drive and has carried out 17 engagements in Saudi Arabia and China for UK Trade and Investment since the announcement that he was no longer the special representative for trade.

On other trade trips endorsed by a cabinet committee, he had meetings with the emir of Qatar, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, the prime minister of Malaysia and the presidents of Panama and Mongolia. In December, he met the king of Bahrain after the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry published a report which, according to Human Rights Watch, "found a pattern of serious human rights violations that included the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and ill-treatment of detainees".

"The government needs to come clean about this," said Labour MP Chris Bryant, the former Europe minister. "Last year, after a hail of criticism, they let it be known they were dispensing with the Duke of York's services, but now it seems to be business as usual. There should be no secrecy about whether the British taxpayer is paying for the duke's travel. If he is going to shake hands with the king of Bahrain, we need to know what is going on. People will continue to ask whose interests he is really representing."

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