Andrew set to pay off debt with £17million chalet sale
PRINCE Andrew is close to selling his £17million Swiss chalet to settle a legal dispute with the former owner.
The Duke of York is understood to have reached an agreement with isabelle de Rouvre, 74, to drop proceedings with the imminent sale.
The French socialite sued Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, both 61, last year over £6.6million she claimed they still owed her. The Yorks bought the seven-bedroom Chalet Helora from Miss de Rouvre in 2014 for £16.6million, but she alleged they missed the final instalment on January 1, 2020.
She took the case to the Swiss courts demanding the money for the property in Verdrop bier, equipped with an indoor swimming pool which costs up to £22,000 a week to rent.
But now that it is being sold for close to the asking price of £17.3million, she has agreed to proceedings, The Sunday Times reported.
The Yorks intend to repay their debt once the sale goes through. it was first reported the chalet was for sale last year.
A source said: ‘The matter is close to being resolved to everybody’s mutual satisfaction.’
The Yorks became friends with Miss de Rouvre after regularly renting the chalet for holidays with their children, Beatrice and Eugenie.
Prince Andrew and his exwife bought it with a mortgage and private funding from the Queen as a ‘long-term family investment’, sources claimed.
When the sale is complete, the duke will no longer own any property, it is believed.
But while he appears to have settled his Swiss case sources close to Andrew suggested he will strongly contest the sex abuse claims made in the US by Virginia Roberts, 38. The duke has repeatedly denied her allegations.