Sensational claims of “inappropriate behaviour” by Prince Andrew emerged last night in the biggest intelligence leak in history.
Secret US embassy cables are said to show the prince, who is a UK trade envoy, has shocked the Americans with his “rude behaviour abroad”.
A Buckingham Palace source said: “We are awaiting further detail, as everyone else is”. The Palace declined to make any official comment.
The cables - published by the WikiLeaks whistleblower website - revealed everything from discussions on bombing Iran to astonishing verdicts on Britain and other nations. Other disclosures include:
- Strong criticism of the UK’s military operations in Afghanistan;
- Attacks on David Cameron and Gordon Brown;
- US requests for specific intelligence on individual MPs;
- Pressure for an attack on Iran with its president likened to Hitler;
- Nicolas Sarkozy is called an emperor with no clothes and Vladimir Putin an alpha dog.
More than 250 000 classified documents were published in what is being called a “diplomatic 9/11” for the US. Most seriously for Washington, the leaks show it ordered a spying operation on diplomats at the UN, including British officials, in apparent breach of international law.
Embassy staff were ordered by secretary of state Hillary Clinton to obtain frequent flyer numbers, credit card details and even iris scans, fingerprints and DNA of foreign officials.
Wikileaks ignored a last-minute warning from the White House that publishing the first tranche of 250 000 classified documents would put “many lives at risk”.
Experts warned the revelation of repeated private calls from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for the US to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear programme and “cut off the head of the snake” risked destablising the Middle East.
President Barack Obama is revealed in one damaging cable as having “no feelings for Europe” and preferring to “look East rather than West”.
Last night, efforts were being made on both sides of the Atlantic to shore up the special relationship in the wake of the revelations about the US assessment of Britain.
Criticism of British operations in Afghanistan were however said to be devastating, putting the US-UK alliance under strain.
Remarks concerning Mr Cameron, who was said to have been deemed a lightweight by Mr Obama when the two first met, were described as “serious political criticisms”.
Prince Andrew has come under fire for accepting the use of a £1-million golfing and holiday villa in Abu Dhabi.
The oil-rich Gulf nation’s royal rulers gave him free run of the four-bedroom townhouse - described as a “heavily-gilded mini-palace” - inside their personal compound last year.
In July he was criticised for entertaining a senior Libyan minister at St James’s Palace - just as David Cameron prepared to hold talks with Barack Obama over the release of the Lockerbie bomber.
He has also faced allegations over his links to the powerful Kazakh tycoon, Timur Kulibayev, with whom he has negotiated several investment deals.
The billionaire bought the Duke of York’s former marital home, Sunninghill Park, for £3-million above the £12-million asking price - allegedly using cash from the sale of a state-run energy firm.
The State Department released a letter from Harold Koh, its top lawyer, to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his attorney telling them that publication of the documents would be illegal and demanding that they stop it.
He said the move would “place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals”, “place at risk on-going military operations”, and “place at risk on-going cooperation between countries.”
“They were provided in violation of US law and without regard for the grave consequences of this action,” he said.
The White House said that the disclosure of confidential diplomatic communications would deeply impact its foreign interests.
In London, the Foreign Office condemned the leaks and insisted they would not undermine the special relationship between the US and UK.
“We condemn any unauthorised release of this classified information, just as we condemn leaks of classified material in the UK,” a spokesman said.
“They can damage national security, are not in the national interest and, as the US have said, may put lives at risk. We have a very strong relationship with the US Government. That will continue.”
Italy’s foreign minister Franco Frattini said the files would “blow up the relationship of trust between states”, adding: “It will be the September 11th of world diplomacy.”
The US says it has known for some time that WikiLeaks held the diplomatic cables. No one has been charged with passing them to the website, but suspicion focuses on Bradley Manning, a Welsh-born US Army intelligence analyst who was arrested in Iraq in June and charged over an earlier leak.
He told a fellow hacker he downloaded intelligence in “possibly the largest data spillage in American history”.
Louis Susman, the American ambassador to Britain, condemned the disclosures and said steps were being taken to prevent future security breaches.
He claimed they had “the very real potential to harm innocent people” but insisted the cables “should not be seen as representing US policy on their own”.
He admitted the leaks were “harmful to the US and our interests”. - Daily Mail