Prince Andrew’s ex who is suing bank for £1.5bn
AMANDA Staveley is the high-flying financier who brought in investors from the Middle East to save Barclays from a government bailout in 2008.
With the Serious Fraud Office trial over, the 46-year-old Cambridge University graduate, who once dated Prince Andrew, will now sue Barclays for £1.5billion for unfair treatment. The case is due to start later this year and it is believed further damaging revelations will emerge about the culture at the bank at the time.
One insider told the Mail that senior Barclays employees were ‘openly sexist about Amanda and rude towards their investors. There’s more to come out’.
Mrs Staveley has made her millions by acting as a banker to the Middle East’s oilrich sheikhs. Her family’s wealth dates back to the 16th century when Henry VIII’s one-time favourite, Cardinal Wolsey, granted them a plot of land in North Yorkshire. Her father Robert is a wealthy landowner while mother Lynne is a former champion horsewoman.
In 2008, Mrs Staveley brokered the £210million sale of Manchester City FC to Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mansour. At the same time she was eyeing up opportunities to invest in a British bank, and arranged for the sheikh to come in alongside the Qataris at Barclays.
She now alleges she was denied huge fees for arranging the investment because of Barclays’ underhand tactics. The civil case was delayed by the criminal trial, but is expected to go ahead this year.
Barclays is defending her claim.