Royal sold his wedding day photos to Hello!

PETER Phillips is no stranger to controversy when it comes to his business dealings. He ruffled feathers in when he sold photographic rights for his wedding in 2008. For a reputed £500,000 (€590,000), Hello! Magazine ran photos over 100 pages featuring, among others, his grandmother Queen Elizabeth.

Princes William and Harry privately expressed concerns that their then girlfriends, Kate Middleton and Chelsy Davy, featured heavily in the publication.

Mr Phillips had another uncomfortable spell in the spotlight when his company SEL UK was paid £750,000 (€880,000) to oversee the Queen’s 90th birthday street party, when 10,000 representatives of her charities paid £150-a-head (€175) to attend. The contract given to SEL UK to organise the Patron’s Lunch was just £12,000 (€14,000) less than the amount received by 291 charities from the occasion. At the time, Mr Phillips insisted he had not won the contract because of his links to the Queen. ‘We went through the normal channels,’ he said.

He did, however, admit to having discussed the matter with her privately.

He stepped down as a trustee of the

Patron’s Fund charity a few months before the party in June 2016 to avoid claims of a conflict of interest.

Last year, Chinese entrepreneur Dr Johnny Hon revealed Mr Phillips had just joined a stable of royals benefiting from his patronage. The pair launched a horse-racing private members’ club for Hong Kong investors, Global Group Premier Racing Club.

At a launch dinner, Dr Hon said his new business partner, who was receiving a salary for his ‘figurehead’ role, was able to ‘meet some potential members’.