Mystery of the foreign tycoon and the Queen’s grandchildren
The Queen’s grandchildren Zara Phillips and her brother Peter have always relied on making their own money after their mother, the Princess Royal, expressed the hope that they would lead lives which would be as ‘normal’ as possible.
But they have not always avoided pitfalls. earlier this year, Peter was ridiculed for appearing in a milk commercial on Chinese TV, billed as ‘ British Royal Family member Peter Phillips’.
he has additionally received a salary from Chinese businessman Dr Johnny hon, who also paid Zara £100,000-ayear for horse racing advice.
So some might think questions about their financial probity are worth investigating. Not at the home Office, nor the Information Commission, however. For I can disclose both organisations have just rejected a request that Zara and Peter’s relationship with an eminent international businessman be made public.
So who could it be? The person is not identified for confidentiality reasons, but it could conceivably be Johnny hon himself.
The unprecedented request was made last year by another businessman. he claimed that there was a significant public interest in knowing if Zara, wife of former england rugby captain, Mike Tindall, and Peter had ever lobbied the home
Office on behalf of a man who is said to have businesses and investments — as well as charitable commitments — both in the UK and overseas.
Successive judgments — first by the home Office and then by the Information Commissioner, elizabeth Denham — concluded that any such information should remain private.
Denham insisted: ‘People have a reasonable and legitimate expectation that information about whether or not they have written to the home Secretary about a particular subject will not be disclosed to the world at large without their knowledge or consent’.
She added: ‘This expectation is not removed because someone is prominent or well known, for example because they are members of the Royal Family.’