The Royal Family is facing criticism after the British government appeared to delete files relating to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's behavior.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the government has been "accused" of a "cover-up after censoring details of Andrew's taxpayer-funded travel." Per the publication, "Minutes of a 2004 Royal Visits Committee meeting which discussed allocating an extra £90,000 [approximately $121,000] for Andrew's many foreign trips were originally due to be among the annual release of historic public documents by the National Archive." Instead, "a legal exemption" was applied to the information as it related to the Royal Family.
Graham Smith, the CEO of anti-monarchy group Republic, told the outlet, "There should be no royal exemption at all. But this exemption surely doesn't apply to Andrew now he's no longer a royal."
As noted by the Sun, the files appeared to be "hastily redacted" in what was referred to as an "admin error."
Smith discussed the reasoning behind the sudden redaction, telling the Daily Mail, "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."
Taking aim at the Royal Family, Smith explained, "The royals are one of the most secretive institutions in the [United Kingdom]. These documents should be released without fear or favor, to allow the public to make informed judgments about the royals."
GB News reported that the "decision to withhold [the] Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor files sparks fury," and suggested that "withholding the files cannot be justified" following the former duke's demotion. For now, though, the information won't be released to the general public.
