Duke’s pow wow with president of Azerbaijan

The Duke of York has rekindled his long-standing and highly controversial friendship with Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan.

The pair held yet another discreet tetea-tete at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, despite an international out cry in recent years about human rights abuses in the oil and gas-rich former Soviet state.

Billionaire Aliyev, who succeeded his father Heydar Aliyev, the former head of the Azerbaijani KGB, in 2003, is more than a casual acquaintance of the sixth in line to the throne. The pair have now met at least 13 times over the past decade.

On seven occasions, Prince Andrew has hopped on a plane to Azerbaijan, t here have been four meetings at the annual Davos summit in Switzerland, and an intimate lunch at Buckingham Palace.

Prince Andrew stood down as the UK’s trade envoy in 2011 after a string of controversies over his association with leaders such as Aliyev. But he continues to keep a close eye on British interests overseas.

The Palace tells me that Prince Andrew’s meeting was ‘private’.

A spokeman adds: ‘At the request of t he Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Duke of York supports Her Majesty The Queen as Head of State by representing Her Majesty in the UK and abroad, receiving Heads of State and Government, and attending state and ceremonial occasions.’