Prince Michael ‘caught in sting offering access to Kremlin for £50,000’
PRINCE Michael of Kent was last night accused of exploiting his Royal status by trading on links to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime.
The Queen’s cousin told undercover reporters posing as South Korean busi nessmen t hat he would be ‘very excited’ to work with their company, which they said was seeking Kremlin contacts to further its gold investment business in Russia.
A close friend, the Marquess of Reading, later told the reporters they would need to pay around £50,000 for the Prince to make representations on their behalf.
In a Zoom call, the 78-year-old Prince assured the reporters that his longstanding connection to Russia ‘could bring some benefit’ and said he had been given one of the Kremlin’s most prestigious awards. ‘I have never had any close connection before with gold and the idea makes me very happy,’ he added.
Lord Reading also claimed to the reporters that the Prince had a de facto role as ‘Her Majesty’s unofficial ambassador to Russia’ and was able to meet with Putin.
The Marquess further claimed the Prince would be able to make representations to the Russian leader on behalf of the House of Haedong [the reporters’ fictitious company] which would open doors. He said the cost was about £50,000.
The Marquess added: ‘If he’s with Putin and five or six other Putin ministers, Putin will be able to say, “Right, well, that’s the guy who you need to work with.” And that’s the key, really… as long as you get authority from the top, you can get virtually anything done in Russia.’
Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times carried out the ‘ sting’ while investigating ‘ how members of the Royal Family have been selling their connection to the Monarchy for personal profit’. Three other Royals who were approached by the ‘businessmen’ turned them down. A fourth did not reply to them.
Prince Michael occasionally represents the Queen as some functions in Commonwealth realms outside the UK.
Most of the time, however, he manages his own consultancy business and undertakes various commercial work around the world.
He does not receive any funding from the Queen but his police protection in the UK and abroad has been paid for from the public purse and he is occasionally given British embassy accommodation during trips to Russia.
Last night, Prince Michael’s office said: ‘Prince Michael has no special relationship with President Putin. They last met in 2003 and he has had no contact with him or his office since then. Lord Reading is a good friend who made suggestions which Prince Michael would not have wanted, or been able, to fulfil.’
Lord Reading said: ‘I thought the approach from the House of Haedong was genuine and I was only trying to facilitate an introduction to my friend Prince Michael. I made a mistake and over-promised, and for that I am truly regretful. I wasn’t at my peak as I was recovering from a kidney transplant.
In the past, Prince Michael and his wife have faced sustained media and political criticism over claims they did little in return for the luxury of living at Kensington Palace for a peppercorn rent. The Prince is said to feel aggrieved that he is the only Royal with the HRH title – other than his wife – not to have been offered an honorary military title, even though he served in the Army for 20 years.
The Kents’ omission from the civil list is said to be due to the religious bigotry of the 18th Century.
‘A close connection to gold makes me very happy’ ‘I over-promised and for that I’m truly regretful’
The 1701 Act of Settlement – which is still in force – states that no one married to a Catholic can accede to the throne.
When Prince Michael married his Catholic wife, then known as Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, he lost his place in line.
Princess Michael herself fell victim to a newspaper sting in 2005. She was caught sharing her views on the Royal Family with the News of the World’s ‘fake sheikh’ Mazher Mahmood.
Thinking he was a wealthy Arab prince she told him that Princess Diana was a ‘ bitter’ and ‘ nasty’ woman and her then former husband Prince Charles was ‘jealous’ of her popularity. He had merely married a ‘womb’, she said.