So it seems that Prince Andrew has found a sugar daddy, a benefactor willing to stump up millions of pounds to help him keep his publicly owned home, Royal Lodge, in the grounds of the Windsor Estate.
It was reported yesterday that Andrew, who had been expected to leave the house where he has a lease until 2078 after his brother King Charles cut off the funding for his security, had shown Palace officials that he had the required funds to maintain upkeep of the 30-room mansion.
Sir Michael Stevens, keeper of the privy purse, approved the money as coming from legitimate sources, The Times reported.
Well we may be told to trust the disgraced Duke or Sir Michael that is all above board, but many of us are already asking questions.
And we have grounds not to be trusting.
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Not only is there the matter of the case he settled with Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to have sex with him claims he has always vehemently denied he has a history of friendships with people of questionable repute.
Of course we need to know where the money is coming from, but when it comes to transparency and trustworthiness in the monarchy, Andrew’s latest wheeze is the tip of the iceberg.
The royals have never been candid enough about their finances.
Earlier this year, Prince William announced he wouldnt disclose what taxes he was voluntarily paying on the £23.6m income he takes from the Duchy of Cornwall.
He is officially exempt from income tax, so we could be forgiven for thinking he’d chosen to pay less than his father.
Does the public deserve to know where Prince Andrew is getting his money?Comment NowLast week, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary revealed in great detail how Charles and William demand money from charities, schools, hospitals and the military for use of Duchy land, land which many people believe ultimately belongs to the nation.
A report from Republic in September suggested that the true cost of the monarchy could be as high as £500m a year.
That’s far more than the £86m estimated by the Sovereign Grant, which Sir Michael Stevens, the same man who accepted Prince Andrew’s newfound wealth as legitimate, insists is value for money.
In the summer, the press and opposition were up in arms about gifts being accepted by politicians and rightly so. Yet the royals say little and less about their own gifts, which are considered almost impossible to trace.
It’s no wonder that eyebrows are being raised over how Andrew can afford his upkeep, given a reported £12m was paid to Virginia Guiffre, which stemmed from Andrew’s friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
There are reports that Andrew’s benefactor might be someone he met during his time as a UK trade envoy, where the Duke also had a predilection for friends of what might be called questionable character.
What does Andrews patron want? (Picture: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)There was disquiet in 2011 about the Prince lunching at Buckingham Palace with a notorious member of the former Tunisian regime. He was also said to be friends with Saif Gaddafi, the son of the former Libyan leader, and gun smuggler Tarek Kaituni.
It is these friends and acquaintances and Andrew’s direct access to the highest offices of state here in the UK, that make the question of who is bankrolling his lifestyle particularly urgent. Because generous donors to public figures are rarely doing so out of the goodness of their hearts.
So the obvious question that remains unanswered is what does Andrews patron want, and are they getting it?
These same questions arose when there were accusations of Charles accepting €3m in cash from a Qatari businessman, cash brought into the country in carrier bags and suitcases.
And again when there were accusations that a Saudi businessman was offered help to get a knighthood in exchange for donations to one of Charles’ charities allegations he denied any knowledge of.
The royals are protected by a wall of official secrecy, exempt from the freedom of information act and governments unwilling to expose this rotten institution for what it is.
We need answers (Picture: Steve Parsons – WPA Pool/Getty Images)You’ll see precious little political response to revelations of Andrew’s newfound wealth, or the outrages disclosed by Dispatches.
Knowing that they can behave in this way only emboldens the royals to continue to do as they please, to take money from whatever oligarch or businessman of questionable repute they enjoy lunching with.
Yet we need to know what’s going on. Gifts are given, in the words of Yes Prime Minister’s Humphrey Appleby, with the lively expectation of favours to come. As with politicians, so too with royals.
Andrew has unique and protected access to people in positions of power and influence, and people who can make decisions about government spending, new laws and business regulation.
So if he is now in hock to an anonymous benefactor, the room for corruption and abuse of access and influence is palpable, and we are all left in the dark, told by courtiers ‘trust us, it’s all above board.’
That’s not good enough.
We need answers from the disgraced Duke, and we need them now.
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