[imagesource: PA]

Prince Andrew, nicknamed ‘Randy Andy‘ and ‘Air Miles Andy’ over the years, is in the midst of a rather sizeable crisis.

He is attempting to aggressively fight back against accusations made by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who maintains that she was raped by Prince Andrew three times when she was 17.

Some have called it “the biggest gamble of Prince Andrew’s life”, but gambling is less risky when your mom’s the Queen and can bail you out of most situations.

Quite how the Duke of York affords his lavish lifestyle has been scrutinised for years, given that his naval pension is somewhere around £20 000 a year.

His mom chips in with an annual stipend of £250 000 (pocket money at the age of 61, living the dream), but even that doesn’t explain a lifestyle of fancy holidays, a $23 million Swiss chalet, and private jets that appear to be way beyond his means.

The Telegraph says a “cache of newly unearthed bank documents now goes some way to shedding light on the issue”:

[The documents suggest] that a £1.5 million bank loan was paid off by his friend, David Rowland [below].

The controversial Tory donor is said to have transferred £1.5 million to the Duke in December 2017, just days after he had borrowed a similar amount from Banque Havilland, the tiny Luxembourg bank that the Rowlands bought in 2009.

Image: Camera Press / Mark Stewart]

The £1.5 million loan that the Duke took out in November 2017 replaced a previous £1.25 million loan that had been extended or increased 10 times since 2015, according to Bloomberg News.

Must be nice to have your pals pay off million-pound loans at the drop of a hat.

Rowland and Prince Andrew are said to have a friendship that dates back to 2005. It’s not the first time Rowland has dipped into his pocket to help the family:

In 2010, he was invited to Balmoral, where he reportedly met the Queen and enjoyed tea with the Prince of Wales.

That same year, Mr Rowland, who is said to have co-owned an offshore fund in the British Virgin Islands with the Duke, reportedly paid £40,000 to help clear the Duchess of York’s debts.

That’s Sarah, the former wife of Andrew. The two divorced in 1996.

At the heart of the scandal are accusations that the Duke of York consistently exploited his role as trade envoy to further his own financial interests.

Andrew has appeared at the opening of Banque Havilland, as well as other ceremonies linked to the same bank:

Buckingham Palace’s official gift policy states that nothing should be accepted which would, or might appear to, place that member of the Royal family “under any obligation to the donor” and that money should never be accepted in connection with an official engagement or duty.

Naturally, Andrew didn’t answer the allegations himself.

A spokesperson on his behalf said that “the Duke is entitled to a degree of privacy in conducting his entirely legitimate personal financial affairs”.

I truly cannot understand Britons who sing the praises of the Royal Family.

[source:telegraph]