PRINCE ANDREW FUNNY MONEY SCANDAL EXPLODES!
DISGRACED Prince Andrew is being probed in a shocking “Royals for Sale” scandal after being accused of secretly using his position to pad his bottom line, GLOBE has been told.
“This couldn’t come at a worse time for the palace as dying Queen Elizabeth faces her last days,” charges a highlevel courtier.
“But once again, black sheep Andrew, her favorite son, is breaking her heart.”
The latest scandal erupted after it was revealed cashstrapped Andrew was wired $2 million to pay off a bank loan — by his friend, the bank’s owner!
“This stinks!” charges a highlevel palace source. “This has all the elements of a ‘scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ deal.
“We’ve wondered how Andrew could afford his lavish lifestyle when he’s always had a modest official income.
“It appears he was financially rewarded for using his royal credentials to provide clients introductions to lucrative opportunities around the world.”
Britain’s Parliament and Scotland Yard are being urged to launch official investigations into Andrew’s ties with longtime friend David Rowland, 76, who’s worth $900 million and owns Luxembourg-based Banque Havilland.
In 2017, the bank approved a $340,000 increase on the Duke of York’s existing loan to cover his “living expenses” — because it opened up “further business potential with the royal family,” according to insiders, who say the credit application suggested the queen could repay the money if Andrew defaulted!
Rowland reportedly sent funds to Andrew to repay the entire loan just 11 days after the extension! The men’s ties date back to Andrew’s days as U.K. trade envoy from 2001 to 2011, say sources. “The word is ‘Air Miles Andy’ was an ‘unofficial door opener,’ allowing
the Rowlands to add meetings to his official trade tours so they could plug their bank and woo powerful and wealthy clients,” dishes a source.
“It’s also said Andrew coowned a business with them in a secretive Caribbean tax haven to be used to lure the prince’s wealthy royal contacts to invest in a tax-free offshore fund!”
Thanks to Andrew, Rowland met the queen and Prince Charles at Balmoral in 2010 and three years ago had a front row seat at the wedding of Andrew’s daughter Princess Eugenie.
Both the duke and Rowland insist everything is on the up-and-up and no laws were broken in their dealings, but Andrew’s finances have raised eyebrows for years.
“I’d compare Andrew to a hot air balloon,” says one pal. “He seems to float around in very rarefied circles without any visible means of support.”
Despite an official income of a $26,000 Navy pension and $333,000 a year from the queen, Andrew lives a luxury lifestyle, boasting a collection of super-expensive watches, a fleet of luxury cars and a $17.5 million ski lodge in Switzerland, which has now been sold after he defaulted on the mortgage.
The duke, 61, has a history of befriending questionable financiers, say sources.
A Kazakh oligarch paid $5 million over the asking price for Andrew’s former marital home — and the royal refused to stop seeing convicted pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who like Rowland, helped pay off the debts of ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
Andrew was forced to quit royal duties in 2019 — and lost his royal paycheck — when sex trafficking charges were leveled against Epstein, who died mysteriously in prison while awaiting trial.
Andrew is now embroiled in his own sex scandal, after Epstein sex slave Virginia Giuffre filed a civil lawsuit in
New York accusing him of bedding her when she was 17 — a charge the royal denies.
“This latest scandal has exploded as Epstein’s accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell — another Andrew friend — is on trial on sex trafficking charges,” dishes the source.
“It seems Andrew’s facing trouble on every front! But an investigation by Parliament or Scotland Yard will be the nail in his royal coffin — no matter the outcome.”