Prince Andrew's firm linked to controversial PPE millionaire
One of Prince Andrew's prized business assets was administered for two years by a company controlled by the controversial millionaire Doug Barrowman, the BBC can reveal.
After the prince's disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019, legal ownership of his Dragon's Den-style start-up competition, Pitch@Palace Global, was transferred to a Barrowman-linked firm, Knox House Trustees (UK).
Barrowman and his wife, lingerie boss Baroness Michelle Mone, hit the headlines when she admitted they had lied about their links to a company that won large government contracts during the Covid pandemic after she recommended it to ministers.
A lawyer for Mr Barrowman said he "at no time... had any business or personal involvement with the duke".
Pitch@Palace Global remained the prince's company, under his control. But in line with longstanding royal practice, it was owned under the names of other people or companies, acting on his behalf as so-called "nominees".
Documents filed at Companies House show that from 2021, the nominee owner was Knox House Trustees (UK), which was controlled and ultimately owned by Mr Barrowman until 2023.
Prince Andrew's finances have been under intense scrutiny, with questions about how he can afford to live in his Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor after he was cut off financially by his brother, King Charles.
The prince's choice of business associates has long been controversial. In December, he said he "ceased all contact" with Yang Tengbo, who led the Chinese arm of Pitch@Palace, after receiving advice from the UK government which alleged that he was a spy.
Mr Yang has denied being a spy or doing anything unlawful.
Mr Barrowman has attracted plenty of controversy too. In 2017, HMRC began an investigation into one of his companies, AML Tax (UK), which it said "aggressively promoted" tax avoidance schemes. It was fined £150,000 in 2022.
In January that year, the Guardian newspaper first reported links between Mr Barrowman, Baroness Mone and PPE Medpro. The pair denied involvement until December 2023, when she admitted in a BBC interview that they had lied about their links with the company.
The National Crime Agency is now investigating suspected criminal offences at the firm. Mr Barrowman and Baroness Mone both deny any wrongdoing.
Author Andrew Lownie, who is writing a biography of the prince, said: "Andrew has a long history of associating with dubious business figures and disguising his business activities behind nominee and offshore accounts. There really needs to be a full investigation into the duke's financial activities."
Pitch@Palace was a start-up competition, founded in 2014, where entrepreneurs would pitch their ideas to possible investors in the hope of winning their backing. It had two parts:
a UK-based version, set up as a community interest company, which cannot pay profits to shareholders
an international arm, Pitch@Palace Global Ltd, which held competitions in places such as Australia, Bahrain and China, and was set up as a for-profit UK company
Both arms of Pitch@Palace suspended operations following the Newsnight interview in 2019 about the prince's links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which led to Andrew stepping down as a working royal.
Nonetheless, the international operation has emerged as a possible way for the duke to fund his lifestyle. In a court witness statement from 2023, Mr Yang wrote that the duke had needed money "and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding".
Earlier this year a Dutch company said it was in talks to buy it, saying it saw "immense value" in the network, even though it had suspended operations.
However, Prince Andrew has never held the company in his own name.
Founded in 2017, Pitch@Palace Global Ltd was initially held in the name of Amanda Thirsk, the prince's private secretary, in an arrangement often used by the Royal Family.
But early in 2021, the legal ownership was transferred to Knox House Trustees (UK) Limited.
This company had been set up the year before, and Mr Barrowman was named as having "significant influence and control" over it.
Corporate filings in the Isle of Man show Knox House Trustees (UK) was ultimately owned by Knox Limited, whose sole shareholder is Mr Barrowman.
In 2023, ownership of Knox House Trustees (UK) Ltd – which still owned Pitch@Palace Global - was transferred to Arthur Lancaster, an accountant who has a longstanding working relationship with both the prince and Mr Barrowman. This remains the situation today.
The same year Mr Lancaster took over as the sole director and shareholder of PPE Medpro. He was also a director of many of the companies involved in the AML tax avoidance case.
The judge in that case called him "evasive" and said he had "real concerns as to the reliability of Mr Lancaster's evidence", which contained "significant inconsistencies".
After the case, his lawyer wrote to the court arguing that the conclusions were "unnecessarily harsh", that Mr Lancaster had been a "diligent and truthful witness", and that his efforts to provide information had been hampered by the Covid pandemic.
For decades the Royal Family has held investments through nominees, and still does. In the past this has served to keep details of their holdings private, though not in this case. Prince Andrew's involvement in Pitch@Palace Global is well known, and he is listed as having "significant influence or control" over the company on Companies House.
Mr Barrowman's lawyer said in a statement: "Mr Lancaster was a director of KHT (UK) Ltd which provided company administration services to a number of external companies, including Pitch@Palace, a company wholly owned by the duke. Mr Lancaster acted for the duke in a personal capacity at all times and has been an associate of the duke for many years."
Mr Lancaster declined to comment. Prince Andrew did not respond to requests for comment.
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