Epstein files detail 'Andrew for access' plans of his ultra-wealthy friends

Mountbatten-Windsor 'fed information to his contacts while touring the world at taxpayers' expense as trade envoy'

- Jon Ungoed-Thomas & Alexi Mostrous

Ever since he was presented with a toy Aston Martin aged six years old, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has felt a special affinity with the great British car market.

He had a custom-built DB7 Volante in the 1990s to transport his young family and later as a divorcee could be spotted driving across London in a racing-green Aston, sometimes with a female companion in the passenger seat.

In July 2010 one of Aston Martin's key shareholders was struggling in the aftermath of the financial crash and buyers were circling. Andrew, in his position as UK trade envoy tasked with championing British business, had taken a keen interest. It was at this point he received an email from a veteran investment banker called Terence Allen, based in the United Arab Emirates.

"Would you object if I were to pursue Aston Martin?" Allen wrote. "The aim is to keep the brand going. You need not be involved. But the inside information would be invaluable."

In the email, Allen asked Andrew to introduce him to a Libyan contact to arrange a loan of up to three billion of an unspecified currency. "It can be arranged quietly and discreetly," Allen wrote. "What do you think?"

Mountbatten-Windsor assured Allen in an email that he had "been kept in the picture by the relevant people... about Aston". An ownership approach would not be practical because of "conflicts between internal parties", he advised.

Mountbatten-Windsor seemed to have better news about the Libyan loan. "I'm trying to orchestrate this from behind the scenes," he wrote. "I can't be seen to be up front on this."

The dossier of more than 3m documents relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, released by the US Department of Justice on 30 January, contains new evidence of how Mountbatten-Windsor appears to have exploited his role as trade envoy to share private information with key associates.