Cabinet Office withdraws Andrew papers after 'error'

The Cabinet Office has attributed a administrative mistake for mistakenly posting official papers referring to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. A No 10 file related to royal visits from 2004 to 2005, which was part of the government's regular transfer of records to the National Archives under the 20-year period, was briefly available to journalists before being deleted. The version that was originally published under embargo contained minutes of a meeting about various royals' overseas travel, including the then-DUKe of York, who was serving as a UK trade ambassador. The information was later deleted from the file until it was made public at the National Archives in Kew, west London, on Tuesday.

The Cabinet Office, which is in charge of moving the files to the National Archives, said the files were not meant for public display.

All records are managed in accordance with the Public Records Act's specifications,

a spokesperson said. Any announcement is subjected to a lengthy review process, which includes consulting expert stakeholders.

There was no reason for withholding the papers, particularly because Andrew has since been stripped of royal titles for his ties to deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

The royals are one of the most obscure companies in the United Kingdom,

Graham Smith, chief executive of campaign group Republic, said. These papers should be released without fear or favour in order to encourage the public to make informed decisions about the royals.

The minutes themselves, as seen by journalists before being pulled, seemed to be largely normal. They addressed Andrew's travel plans as a trade envoy, a position that earned him the nickname Airmiles Andy for his role as he traveled to China, Russia, southeast Asia, and Spain.

Mugabe 'depressingly healthy'

According to other papers submitted to the National Archives, the Foreign Office ruled out military action to overthrown Zimbabwe's long-serving leader Robert Mugabe, despite growing dissatisfaction with Tony Blair's government's refusal to relinquish power. Any UK-led intervention, according to an options paper that was developed in 2004, would be politically isolated, costly, and lacking a viable exit plan, thus leaving it as not a

serious option. The Foreign Office had to admit that there were no viable options for ratcheting up the pressure on Mugabe, who, at the age of 80, was

depressingly healthy

and determined to keep on until he had a succession to his liking. According to the reports, Downing Street was also obliged to apologise after then-Prime Minister John Major's birthday telegram to the Queen Mother in 1994 was handled in a

better manner. The Queen Mother's personal secretary contacted No. 10 to complain, but the documents do not specify what caused the offence. The message had left Downing Street correctly, but officials blamed an error in transmission and advised that telegrams should be deleted completely. The Freedom of Information Act also shows that there are limits to transparency put on display. Following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in Paris in 1997, and newly classified papers show that authorities have refused to reveal the details of a meeting between Blair and French president Jacques Chirac. Although papers relating to Diana's burial and funeral arrangements were published, a memo summarising the Blair-Chirac discussion was ruled out of scope. Officials argued that disclosing private conversations between world leaders was in the public interest and that doing so would prevent future frank talks. The ambitious and eventually scrapped plans for a complete redevelopment of Downing Street under Blair were also included in the documents. Briefing papers published in March 2005, just two months before the general election, outline a multi-million-pound initiative to modernize the ageing estate, portions of which date back to the 17th century and have not undergone major renovations since the 1960s. The plans included a two-story subterranean suite under the No. 10 garden, as well as a 200-seat conference room that could double as if a safe haven in the case of a terror attack. Plans for an underground service road to separate VIPs from refuse collections, a new employee entrance, swan, and recreation services in the basement were all envisaged. Officials have warned that failing sewers, power sources, and IT technologies would result in a "unacceptable failure of crITical services. The proposals, which were funded by the private finance initiative over the past 30 years, have extended to Nos 11 and 12 Downing Street and 70 Whitehall, the Cabinet Office's home, and they will have received a new glass-fronted extension and blast-resistant glazing. The documents do not specify why the schemes were scrapped.