IF you are wondering why Prince Andrew found himself embroiled in the questionable lifestyle of Jeffrey Epstein, perhaps look no further than his now deceased friend’s job description of “financier”.
In other words, the billionaire US businessman was able to offer The Queen’s second son a nouveau riche lifestyle of fancy dining, fast cars, private jets and tropical-island getaways.
All of which trumped his mother’s “old money” existence of Tupperware breakfasts, draughty palaces and holidays in dank Balmoral.
The “Playboy Prince” has always had a penchant for the finer things in life but, with a £250,000 annual stipend from The Queen and a £20k Navy pension, not the earning power to pay for them.
So he gravitated towards people who could entertain him in the vulgar style to which he wished to become accustomed, in return for being paraded around the class-obsessed, high echelons of American society as a trophy “royal friend”.
Now, documents leaked to Bloomberg show Andrew had borrowed £1.25million from Banque Havilland and that, between 2015 and 2017, he increased the loan ten times.
In November 2017, the entire debt of £1.5million was paid off early by Tory donor David Rowland, whose family owns the Luxembourg-based bank.
Perhaps it was to pay for the £220k Bentley the Prince added to his two Range Rovers last year, or maybe he bought another expensive watch for his collection that includes a £150k Patek Philippe?
Royal biographer Tom Bower says: “He is a man of un-believable bad judgment and remarkable greed,” adding that, along with his ex-wife Sarah, “they have an appetite for luxury which is beyond the under-standing of mere mortals.”
Indeed they do.
And the £16.6million ski chalet they bought in Verbier, Switzerland, is testament to that.
It is now up for sale after the owner they bought it from sued Andrew for failing to pay the final instalment of £6.6million.
Perhaps he hoped his royal status might see the debt “forgotten?”
Former Home Office minister Norman Baker has written a book about royal finances and believes that Andrew’s extravagance has necessitated building business relationships with questionable characters, such as Epstein and various “autocrats” in the “’stans” and Middle Eastern countries.
Last week it was reported that Andrew hopes to use next year’s 40th anniversary of the Falklands War as a way to return to public life by attending commemorative events
The conflict claimed 255 British military lives, and Andrew saw active service as a helicopter pilot trying to divert Exocet missiles away from British ships and carrying out casualty evacuation.
Undoubtedly, he put his own life at risk.
But you know what?
Pay a visit to the Help for Heroes rehabilitation HQ Tedworth House, in Wiltshire, and you’ll find legions of people who served heroically in the Armed Forces and paid a very heavy price, suffering physical injuries and mental health conditions such as PTSD.
They are struggling to rebuild their lives with none of Andrew’s privileges.
So may I humbly suggest that the overly grand Duke of York rebuild his reputation by showing a little humility, giving back rather than taking and, finally, living within his means.
‘On business’
REMEMBER when Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips’ car was spotted parked on a driveway in Scotland during lockdown?
He said he was there “on business” (which was allowed) for his medical company and police said they found no breach of legislation.
The house belonged to his sister Zara’s friend, Lindsay Wallace who, it transpires, he took along to the royal double christening on Sunday.
Fancy that.
It remains to be seen whether she was there as his girlfriend or “on business”.
Judy’s sitting pretty
RICHARD MADELEY has entered the I’m A Celebrity castle and says it’s the longest he and wife Judy have ever spent apart.
“Already it’s been almost two weeks. I can’t even talk to her. I spend every day with her, working or at home. I feel strangely dislocated – she’s my right arm,” he laments.
Awww. It’s well known in showbiz circles that these two have an incredibly strong marriage.
But that said, one wonders whether Judy feels the same way about their time apart?
Or whether, like so many women in loooooong-term relationships when their other half temporarily vacates the premises, she’ll be luxuriating in the silence, eating in front of the telly and enjoying full control of the remote.
Thanks to our tutors
WHEN you are a kid, a teacher who believes in you is of immeasurable value.
Watching the almighty Adele reduced to tears at the sight of her former English teacher Mrs McDonald in the audience at her TV special was a reminder of what an important role it can be.
“She really made us care and we knew she cared about us,” she says.
Similarly, when Tom Hanks accepted his Oscar for Philadelphia, he thanked his drama teacher Rawley Farnsworth for believing in him, and Oprah Winfrey says of her inspiration: “I always, because of Mrs Duncan, felt I could take on the world.”
One teacher – Mr Cecil Dormand – went a step further and secretly helped pay for acting lessons for a pupil he felt was particularly talented.
That pupil became Sir Patrick Stewart, star of many Star Trek movies, who says: “Everything began with him, as I reminded him when I called him on his 90th birthday.”
So a big shout out to all the inspirational teachers out there.
Your period of influence may be brief, but the gratitude for it lasts a lifetime.
Are you Shawn you want to split, Camila?
POP stars Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello have split after two years but say: “Our love for one another as humans is stronger than ever” and they “will continue to be best friends”.
Call me old-fashioned but it sounds like the makings of happy ever after to me.
Who is Marr vote?
ANDREW MARR has announced he is leaving his eponymous show on the BBC so he can do journalism with “no filter”.
“I am keen to get my own voice back,” he says.
As a regular paper reviewer on his Sunday morning slot, I can report that after each show he gets hosed down on Twitter by Tories saying he’s too left-wing and by Labourites saying he’s too right-wing.
I’m as curious as anyone to learn where he actually sits politically, which shows how deftly he walked the line of BBC impartiality.
Gone global
WITHIN hours of Tiger King 2 dropping on Netflix, my inbox pinged with messages to say I was in it.
My mind boggled, but I soon discovered it was a clip from when I interviewed Carole Baskin’s husband Howard on Loose Women last year, when strict Covid rules meant we had to do our own make-up.
Which, harumph, means I’ve gone global while looking an absolute fright.
Smells like a baby’s head
SCIENTISTS in Israel have deduced that the smell of a baby’s head reduces aggression in men but triggers a protective ferocity in women.
Sounds good – perhaps we should try and bottle it?
Or, at the very least, Gwyneth Paltrow should make a “Smells like a baby’s head” candle.
It would be a darn sight more appealing than the front bottom one she was flogging for £58 last year.
