Monarch orders staff at Buckingham Palace to give detectives investigating allegations of corruption surrounding the former prince’s relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein access to documents and emails, along with government files relating to his work as a UK trade envoy

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Charles has given approval for staff to handover documents relating to his brother (Image: Chris Jackson, Getty Images)

King Charles has given his permission for staff to hand over sensitive documents and files relating to his brother’s work as the UK’s trade envoy, it is understood.

The 77-year-old head of state, gave the go ahead for courtiers to give police access to the information as they continue to probe Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Sources say the move supports his statement regarding his brother’s arrest last week in which he said “We have said we will cooperate fully and wholeheartedly.”

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Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, younger brother of Britain’s King Charles, formerly known as Prince Andrew, leaves Aylsham Police Station on a vehicle, on the day he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office(Image: REUTERS)

The palace declined to comment on whether it was expecting police search teams inside the king’s official residence, where MountbattenWindsor had a private office and apartment until 2022, according to The Observer.

One royal source alleged to the newspaper there was a danger that investigators would find that senior people at Buckingham Palace “were aware of what Andrew was doing and covered it up”.

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The King was quick to react to his brother’s arrest with a statement last week (Image: Getty Images)

“If that did happen, it would have been in Buckingham Palace under an earlier leadership,” the source said, stressing that, at the time, neither King Charles nor Prince William would have been party to such decisions.

Charles stripped his brother of all his titles last year, evicting him from Royal Lodge, Windsor, to Norfolk, after further revelations about Andrew’s friendship with Epstein.

Those close to the royal family have described the late Queen as leaving an “unexploded bomb” for Charles to defuse as she tried to protect her youngest son from public scrutiny. .

A royal source told the Sunday Telegraph: “It wouldn’t surprise me if the Queen just said she didn’t want to hear disobliging things about Andrew and used her red boxes as a shield. But her popularity will protect the monarchy to some extent and Charles will get a lot of public sympathy, which will bolster the monarchy’s position.”

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Mountbatten-Windsor speaking for the first time about his links to Jeffrey Epstein in now notorious interview with BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis(Image: BBC)

Those close to the family also believe that “Charles and William’s genuine horror of the situation” enables the public to “make a distinction” between Andrew and the rest of the pack.

“There is ethical insulation from Andrew with his brother and nephew, and that’s a thick layer of insulation,” says a friend of the royals. “But it heaps huge pressure on the institution to understand that, in the future, a different sort of monarchy is needed and meaningful change under the next reign.”

Meanwhile, a friend of the King told the paper: “He has thought deeply and felt powerfully about this issue in his in-tray since reign change, and has tried to take swift action. Hopefully when the waters settle, people will see that in the circumstances, the King demonstrated leadership, did his duty and continued with his service.”

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Police officers on duty at the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, where Andrew Mounbatten-Windsor has relocated following his departure from Royal Lodge(Image: PA)

It is understood as part of their inquiry, police may also examine the controversial sale of Mountbatten-Windsor’s property Sunninghill Park in Berkshire for £15m to the Kazakh billionaire Timur Kulibayev, the son-in-law of the former dictator of Kazakhstan, which was £3m more than the asking price.

Scotland Yard has called on all royal protection officers who have worked with Andrew to report any suspicions of wrongdoing through the proper channels.

Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested last Thursday and questioned for 11 hours before being released under investigation. Detectives continue to search his former home Royal Lodge.

Mountbatten-Windsor continues to deny any allegations of wrongdoing against him.