‘£1m to mingle with Royals at ski chalet’

IT BOASTS seven bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, sauna, sun terrace, bar and opulent entertaining area.

But Chalet Helora, far from being a dream holiday home in one of Switzerland’s most beautiful ski resorts, instead became a painful financial millstone for the Duke of York.

After taking out a whopping £13.25 million mortgage on the property, above, in 2014, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson are believed to have still owed its former owner another £5million in cash – which by 2019 they were struggling to pay.

Today John Bryan reveals that another adviser to the Yorks came up with a ‘mad’ plan to transform the chalet into a private members’ club.

The adviser, an Iranian-born man with links to Azerbaijan, proposed charging wealthy clients £1.2million a year – with the promise they could ‘mingle with the Royals’.

The Yorks ultimately chose not to pursue the proposal. Mr Bryan said: ‘The sad thing is that the Royal Family is made of “haves” and “have nots” as far as finances go. Some are very rich and others, like Prince Andrew, are always trying to find ways to make money.

‘Andrew said to me, “Hey, why don’t you include [the adviser] on one of your calls?” This guy was going on about turning the chalet into a super-exclusive private members’ club. It was mad.

‘I think Andrew and Sarah entertained the plan to placate him but it came to nothing.’

Chalet Helora was put on the market last year and is believed to have been sold earlier this year. When The Mail on Sunday visited on Friday, the property was unoccupied.

The Duke had not been to the luxury lodge for several years before it was sold but the Duchess and their two daughters spent the last New Year there.