Prince Andrew’s ‘opaque’ finances provoke calls for register of royal interests | Prince Andrew

Receiving information from government departments about the Duke of York’s past business dealings is like a slap in the face, it has been claimed, as controversy over the alleged Chinese “spying” controversy continues, with China saying it was a “smear attempt”. “It.

Researchers seeking to investigate Prince Andrew’s “opaque” finances are calling for a register of royal interests similar to that for MPs and a full investigation into royal finances by the Public Accounts Committee, claiming their Freedom of Information (FoI) requests are regularly rejected. make their work “impossible”.

The calls follow the appointment of 50-year-old Yang Tengbo as businessman and confidant of Prince Andrew, who was expelled from the UK in 2023 on the grounds that it would be “conducive to the public good”. Yang denies being a Chinese spy and the Chinese embassy in London has accused some British parliamentarians of having a “twisted mentality towards China” and trying to “denigrate China.”

According to court documents, the businessman, also known as Christopher Yang, was so close to Andrew that he was authorized to act on his behalf in an international financial initiative with potential partners and investors in China.

As the Duke’s finances are back in the spotlight, Andrew Lownie, whose book The Controversial Lives of the Duke and Duchess of York is published next year, said: “I have made about 100 FoI requests in the last four years. ”

The Guardian’s “Cost of the Crown” series attempts to shed light on royal finances, but there is no official mechanism for gathering information, critics say.

Lownie said documents relating to Andrew’s decade as a “special representative” for British trade and investment, “when he was essentially a civil servant”, could shed light on who accompanied him on his many foreign trips, who he met on them and what their purpose was .

Andrew stepped down from the role in 2011 after criticism of his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. His former wife Sarah Ferguson admitted taking £15,000 from Epstein to pay off her debts.

The Duke then launched his Dragons’ Den-style entrepreneurship program Pitch@Palace. While the British non-profit organization Pitch@Palace CIC was dissolved in 2021 following Andrew’s appearance on Newsnight, it was reported that Pitch@Palace Global Ltd has significant cash reserves and is controlled by the Duke of York via a trust. still active. It was also reported that Andrew was entitled to a 2% share in any investment deal for three years.

Yang was a founding partner of Pitch@Palace China. The duke said in a statement he had broken off all contact when concerns were raised.

Lownie said of Andrew’s role as trade envoy: “He was a civil servant, so under the Public Records Act the files have to be deposited in the Public Records Office after 20 years.” But what happens is they use a whole bunch of FoI exemptions , to prevent a researcher from finding out what he is up to.”

“When I ask the Ministry of Economy and Trade for records of his time as a civil servant between 2001 and 2011, they claim that they have no records until 2008. But it took several years for them to tell me and many requests.”

He said there were so many exemptions cited to the Freedom of Information Act that “it’s like a slap in the face to try to put it that way. That’s why I’m calling for a register of royal interests.”

Although Andrew received no salary as a trade envoy, only expenses and travel expenses, the role allowed him to “harvest” contacts, Lownie said. In his final year as envoy, Andrew visited 15 countries and conducted 616 missions, three-quarters of which were trade-related.

“These contacts are a side effect of the work he did practically as a civil servant. And they’ll say he’s a king and because of the monarchy we can’t look at anything he’s done. But he wasn’t a king when he did this job. He was effectively appointed a civil servant and commercial envoy.”

A DBT spokesman said: “The department has complied with its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act and the Public Records Act and maintains that information has been withheld in accordance with the law.” This includes an ICO decision notice setting out that the Commissioner does not have to take any further steps.”

Interest in Andrew’s finances had increased when it was revealed that King Charles had stopped paying him pocket money, raising questions about how he would be able to pay for the upkeep of his Crown Estate leased home on the Windsor Estate, the Royal Lodge. and the reported annual security costs are £3 million.

Norman Baker, former government minister and author of … And What Do You Do? What the royal family doesn’t want people to know said a register of royal interests would provide similar accountability to MPs and members of the House of Lords.

“There was no formal mechanism at all to find out anything. I suspect there is much more to come from his time as trade envoy,” said Baker, whose new book on royal finance, Royal Mint, National Debt, is published next year. “Remember he ended up buying a chalet in Switzerland. That didn’t come from his navy pension, did it?

But trying to get documents from the royal archives, “where there is nothing left after 1952” and no register, he said, was “like throwing a dart while blindfolded”.

“The Public Accounts Committee must carry out a full investigation into the royal finances,” he added.