Andrew buys £13m ski lodge
Never mind those sex slave claims – Prince and Fergie snap up snow palace
PRINCE Andrew and his ex-wife have secretly splashed out on a Swiss ski chalet thought to be worth up to £13million. The Duke and Duchess of York bought the seven-bedroom property in upmarket Verbier shortly before Christmas as a ‘family investment’, with the deeds listing them simply as Andrew York and Sarah Ferguson.
It is the same property that the divorced couple were staying in last week when claims that the prince had sex with an under-age girl were made in documents lodged at a US court. Sources in Switzerland say the chalet is worth between £10million and £13million, although it is not clear how much the couple paid.
A source close to the duchess told the Mail that she and Andrew took out a joint mortgage on the property and did not buy it outright. It is not known what proportion of the purchase was funded by the mortgage. The development shows how
‘Makes sense to have their own place’
close the pair still are even though they separated in 1992 after six years of marriage and divorced four years later.
But it also raises questions as to how they can afford the chalet, which has up to six permanent staff including a chef. Andrew is not known to have a vast private fortune, while Sarah only recently managed to clear £5million in debts she ran up through a series of disastrous business investments.
However, the couple did sell their former marital home, Sunninghill Park in Berkshire, which had been a wedding present from the Queen. They received £15million for it in 2007 – a price considered to be well above its market value.
They may still have some money from that, although Andrew has spent around £7.5million on improvements to Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, where both now live despite their divorce.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment last night. But a source close to the duchess confirmed she and Andrew have bought the chalet jointly as a nest egg for their children Beatrice and Eugenie.
‘They have bought the chalet as a family investment. Neither of them have their own property and wanted to buy the chalet as an asset to leave to their children,’ the source said. ‘They holiday in Verbier several times each year as all the family are keen skiers and it makes sense to have their own place there.’
The chalet, which the Mail is not naming for security reasons, is in one of the most expensive areas of Switzer- land’s premier resort. It has a master bedroom draped in furs, a living room filled with antiques, sauna, boot room, indoor pool and terrace with stunning views. Neighbours include Sir Richard Branson and singer James Blunt.
In 2013, Andrew rented the £22,000-a-week chalet for his annual family ski holiday to celebrate his 53rd birthday. Prince Harry was there with his then girlfriend Cressida Bonas. One Eugenie’s best friends, Cressida was also there last week. The chalet was owned by Pamuca, a company based in Vaduz, Lichtenstein.
The sale took several months to conclude, say sources, as deals involving foreign buyers are more complicated. The purchase was completed on November 11 but was not legally approved by the Swiss government until December 19.
The chalet has been split in two for the purposes of the sale as, according to local regulations, it was too big for a sole foreign purchaser to buy outright. Legally, Andrew has the upper floor and attic space, Sarah the lower floor and basement. They share the land.
The chalet is managed for them by a company in Verbier, Swiss Tax Services SA. Local land registry officials confirmed to the Mail that the chalet had been sold to the couple.
News of the purchase comes as Andrew faces lurid allegations arising from his friendship with US tycoon Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted paedophile. In court papers, the prince was accusing of having sex with a teenager. Virginia
Roberts claims she was ‘forced’ by Epstein to have sex with Andrew when she was 17 – a minor under US law – and was kept as a ‘sex slave’ by the billionaire, who was jailed in 2008 for soliciting sex with minors.
Andrew, 54, fiercely denies ‘any form of sexual contact or relationship’ with Miss Roberts and says the claims are false.
Buckingham Palace s ays ‘any suggestion of impropriety with under-age minors is categorically untrue’.
The scandal over Andrew’s friendship with Epstein and his continuing globetrotting have led senior politicians to call f or more transparency over his public role and how it is funded.
The prince was forced to quit as an i nternational t r ade envoy in 2011 after repeated criticism about the post’s cost and worth to the nation, but last year he still undertook 90 foreign engagements in places as diverse as China, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, India and the UAE.
Some of his travel was funded by taxpayers but the cost of many trips was met privately, according to the Palace, which has led to concern about who is bankrolling the prince.
Under new fiscal regulations, the Queen now meets the cost of his private office out of her personal fortune, but it unlikely she would pay for the private jets Andrew regularly uses.
Former Home Office minister Norman Baker told the Mail: ‘It’s important that people who undertake duties on behalf of the country are transparent in terms of public money allocated for their activities and also for any potential conflict of interest that may exist. MPs and members of the House of Lords are rightly expected to be open and transparent on these matters and have registers of interest accordingly.
‘Members of the Royal Family also represent the country and in my view should be subject to the same regime.’
Labour MP Austin Mitchell, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, said the prince’s private business dealings were a ‘legitimate area of public concern’. He said: ‘ Clearly he should declare not only the costs and details of taxpayerfunded travel, for whatever purpose, but also any business relationship he develops in the course of that travel.’
Sources close to the prince expressed their frustration yesterday at the way in which his role has been portrayed.
One royal insider said: ‘Since 2011 the duke and his team have worked hard to carve out a new and clear agenda for him – based around education, technology and start-ups.’
Last year Andrew visited more than 30 technical colleges and educational projects around Britain and hosted several events to link entrepreneurs with potential investors.