Latest news with #Pitch@Palace
Sky News AU
29-04-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Prince Andrew facing fresh questions about business dealings days after accuser Virginia Giuffre shock death
Prince Andrew's famously opaque business dealings have become even more convoluted after the BBC revealed bombshell new claims about the Duke of York's finances. On Tuesday, the British public broadcaster uncovered that Andrew's defunct start up Pitch@Palace was secretly administered for two years by a firm controlled by the controversial millionaire Doug Barrowman. Pitch@Palace was launched by the Duke of York in 2014 as a Shark Tank-style platform for UK entrepreneurs to match up with potential investors. However, the venture was shuttered following the Duke of York's career-ending interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019, in which he responded to sexual abuse claims brought by Virginia Giuffre. The Duke of York has denied the allegations but settled a multi-million dollar civil claim with the Jeffrey Epstein victim in 2021. Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked for sex to Andrew when she was just a teenager, took her own life last week at age 41. Mr Barrowman has faced controversy in the UK after he was linked to a series of tax avoidance companies that may have assisted their clients in submitting misleading claims to the British tax office. According to documents reviewed by the BBC, Pitch@Palace was held by Knox House Trustees (UK), which was controlled and ultimately owned by Mr Barrowman, from 2021 until 2023. A lawyer for Mr Barrowman told the BBC said he "at no time... had any business or personal involvement with the duke". Nevertheless, the revelation has shone fresh light on Andrew's complicated finances. Earlier this year, The Duke of York reportedly agreed to a commercial agreement with a Dutch-based firm to commercially exploit contacts he made from his Pitch@Palace initiative. Under the agreement, Andrew will reportedly be paid for each deal SBC strikes in territories worldwide, potentially earning him millions of pounds in total. The deal was brokered last year around the time King Charles removed about £1 million ($1.9 million AUD) in annual funding from his brother and was seeking to evict the Yorks from Royal Lodge. Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have continued to live together at Royal Lodge after reportedly agreeing to pay for the colossal home's upkeep out of their own pocket. Royal author Andrew Lownie, who is currently working on a book about the Yorks' marriage, previously told that Andrew's biggest scandal is 'financial rather than sexual'. '(Andrew) now says he has sources of income that allow him to stay at Royal Lodge and he needs to come clean about what those sources of income are,' he said. Mr Lownie's book will explore how the Duke and Duchess of York may have been compromised by other foreign powers, including during Andrew's time as a special representative for British trade. 'They're useful idiots for these people,' he said of the Yorks' possible value to foreign spies and businessmen. 'Andrew was receiving high level briefings on defence, until it was stopped. 'He was privy to a lot of sensitive information possibly connected to national security, not least from his time in the navy.' NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE? Lifeline (24-hour crisis line): 131 114 Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 or Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800 or Headspace: 1800 650 890 or
BBC News
29-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
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. Controversial associates 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 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 Yang has denied being a spy or doing anything 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 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 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." Who owns Pitch@Palace? 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 shareholdersan 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 companyBoth 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 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 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 early in 2021, the legal ownership was transferred to Knox House Trustees (UK) 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. Investigations into Barrowman's companies 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 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 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 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.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chinese ‘spy': I risked my reputation by supporting Prince Andrew
An alleged Chinese spy said he took a 'significant risk' to his reputation by continuing to support Prince Andrew after his disastrous Newsnight interview, documents have revealed. Yang Tengbo, who was banned from the UK on national security grounds, said he maintained 'loyalty and commitment' to the Duke despite the royal's general 'negative' perception in China. Yang was forced to leave the country on national security grounds in March 2023 and unsuccessfully challenged the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission last year. UK authorities have alleged that he formed an 'unusual degree of trust' with the Duke and developed relationships with politicians to be 'leveraged' by China. On Friday, a secrecy order preventing the release of some documents linked to the case was lifted in the public interest after an application by publications, including The Telegraph. Among the newly published documents is a second witness statement from Yang, where he denied 'scheming to destabilise the UK' and said he was 'confused' as to why the British state believed he was a threat. Yang appears to have targeted the Duke through his Pitch@Palace initiative, a Dragons' Den-style competition launched in 2014, and he was later appointed to lead its Chinese arm, Pitch@Palace China, when it was launched two years later. In the 37-page statement, Yang said that Pitch@Palace China had been 'recognised as one of the top international entrepreneur and start-up platforms in the country' but that after the Duke's November 2019 interview with Emily Mailtis, 'everything changed'. 'Following that interview, all international partners of Pitch pulled out or distanced themselves from it,' he said. 'The Pitch Global team moved from their offices out of Buckingham Palace. But the intention was to maintain Pitch in some form.' He said Amanda Thirsk, the Duke's private secretary and the director of the Pitch@Palace initiative, asked whether he would continue to support the project, 'especially given the success we had achieved in China', and that he decided to do so despite believing it posed a risk. 'At a significant risk for me and my business reputationally, I agreed to continue to support Amanda and Pitch,' he said. 'I admired and respected the Duke in how engaged and passionate he was about supporting Chinese entrepreneurs. I felt I had also invested a huge amount of time, effort, and money into Pitch China and did not want that investment to go to waste.' The new documents included a witness statement from Dominic Hampshire, a senior adviser to Prince Andrew, that claimed the King held secret meetings with the Duke about his plans for a Chinese investment scheme run by Yang. Mr Hampshire claimed that the King was aware of an investment fund in which Yang was directly involved. Yang told the tribunal that he first met the Duke at a dinner in St James's Palace in 2014, having been introduced to Ms Thirsk by Sir Ron Dennis, the Formula 1 executive. Earlier in the statement, Yang said on setting up Pitch in China, the initiative was 'unknown there, and the Duke's reputation was fairly negative and based on reporting taken from the British media'. He said he persuaded others to 'take a risk alongside me and invest in what was essentially a start-up'. In his statement, Yang said that during his time working with the Duke, he had very little contact with him and could not have influenced the Duke. 'There would literally be no way I could possibly exert any unwanted influence on his team, or him. If anything, I was using my own networks and understanding of China to help with Pitch build[ing] a positive brand in China,' he said. He said being a representative of the Chinese business community in the UK meant meeting members of the Chinese Communist Party was 'unavoidable' but 'this does not mean I am working for this organisation, for its interests, or on its behalf'. 'I am definitively not scheming to destabilise the UK or its institutions or prominent individuals, and I am not acting against the national interests of the UK. I am not a threat to the security of the UK, and I feel very insulted to be accused of this and without seeing any material evidence against me to support this.' He later added: 'I am confused as to why the British state believes I am a threat to the public good on the grounds of national security.' Yang said that concerns about the 48 Group, which promotes trade between the UK and China and of which he is a member, were 'paranoid and far-fetched'. He said it was wrong to accuse him of spying and his 'prominent status as a successful Chinese entrepreneur in the UK' was 'nothing to do with me wanting to get access or exert influence in the UK '. 'I feel that the government completely misunderstands me and what I do. I don't deceive, I don't mislead, and I don't hide things to interfere with the interests of the UK.' Yang also claimed that the Duke had wanted him to become involved with a golf tournament and told him to contact Mr Hampshire during a dinner at Buckingham Palace in October 2019. 'During that dinner, the Duke said I should contact Dominic who runs his golf tournament,' Yang wrote. 'He said there may be opportunities to work with him on golf like we had done with Amanda for Pitch. The Duke wrote Dominic's number down on a piece of paper and I then reached out to Dominic.' Yang also suggested that the Duke wanted to keep a relationship with Chinese business in August 2021 because he 'needed money' Yang said that when the new ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, came to the UK, Hampshire was 'involved in the preparation of the talking points' of a call. He said the 'purpose of the note was to keep the Duke engaged without promising anything in terms of financial benefit because the Duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
06-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Chinese ‘spy': I risked my reputation by supporting Prince Andrew
An alleged Chinese spy said he took a 'significant risk' to his reputation by continuing to support Prince Andrew after his disastrous Newsnight interview, documents have revealed. Yang Tengbo, who was banned from the UK on national security grounds, said he maintained 'loyalty and commitment' to the Duke despite the royal's general 'negative' perception in China. Yang was forced to leave the country on national security grounds in March 2023 and unsuccessfully challenged the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission last year. UK authorities have alleged that he formed an 'unusual degree of trust' with the Duke and developed relationships with politicians to be 'leveraged' by China. Pitch@Palace initiative On Friday, a secrecy order preventing the release of some documents linked to the case was lifted in the public interest after an application by publications, including The Telegraph. Among the newly published documents is a second witness statement from Yang, where he denied 'scheming to destabilise the UK' and said he was 'confused' as to why the British state believed he was a threat. Yang appears to have targeted the Duke through his Pitch@Palace initiative, a Dragons' Den-style competition launched in 2014, and he was later appointed to lead its Chinese arm, Pitch@Palace China, when it was launched two years later. In the 37-page statement, Yang said that Pitch@Palace China had been 'recognised as one of the top international entrepreneur and start-up platforms in the country' but that after the Duke's November 2019 interview with Emily Mailtis, 'everything changed'. 'Following that interview, all international partners of Pitch pulled out or distanced themselves from it,' he said. 'The Pitch Global team moved from their offices out of Buckingham Palace. But the intention was to maintain Pitch in some form.' He said Amanda Thirsk, the Duke's private secretary and the director of the Pitch@Palace initiative, asked whether he would continue to support the project, 'especially given the success we had achieved in China', and that he decided to do so despite believing it posed a risk. 'At a significant risk for me and my business reputationally, I agreed to continue to support Amanda and Pitch,' he said. 'I admired and respected the Duke in how engaged and passionate he was about supporting Chinese entrepreneurs. I felt I had also invested a huge amount of time, effort, and money into Pitch China and did not want that investment to go to waste.' The new documents included a witness statement from Dominic Hampshire, a senior adviser to Prince Andrew, that claimed the King held secret meetings with the Duke about his plans for a Chinese investment scheme run by Yang. Mr Hampshire claimed that the King was aware of an investment fund in which Yang was directly involved. 'I am not a threat to UK security' Yang told the tribunal that he first met the Duke at a dinner in St James's Palace in 2014, having been introduced to Ms Thirsk by Sir Ron Dennis, the Formula 1 executive. Earlier in the statement, Yang said on setting up Pitch in China, the initiative was 'unknown there, and the Duke's reputation was fairly negative and based on reporting taken from the British media'. He said he persuaded others to 'take a risk alongside me and invest in what was essentially a start-up'. In his statement, Yang said that during his time working with the Duke, he had very little contact with him and could not have influenced the Duke. 'There would literally be no way I could possibly exert any unwanted influence on his team, or him. If anything, I was using my own networks and understanding of China to help with Pitch build[ing] a positive brand in China,' he said. He said being a representative of the Chinese business community in the UK meant meeting members of the Chinese Communist Party was 'unavoidable' but 'this does not mean I am working for this organisation, for its interests, or on its behalf'. 'I am definitively not scheming to destabilise the UK or its institutions or prominent individuals, and I am not acting against the national interests of the UK. I am not a threat to the security of the UK, and I feel very insulted to be accused of this and without seeing any material evidence against me to support this.' He later added: 'I am confused as to why the British state believes I am a threat to the public good on the grounds of national security.' 'I don't deceive, I don't mislead' Yang said that concerns about the 48 Group, which promotes trade between the UK and China and of which he is a member, were 'paranoid and far-fetched'. He said it was wrong to accuse him of spying and his ' prominent status as a successful Chinese entrepreneur in the UK' was 'nothing to do with me wanting to get access or exert influence in the UK '. 'I feel that the government completely misunderstands me and what I do. I don't deceive, I don't mislead, and I don't hide things to interfere with the interests of the UK.' Yang also claimed that the Duke had wanted him to become involved with a golf tournament and told him to contact Mr Hampshire during a dinner at Buckingham Palace in October 2019. 'During that dinner, the Duke said I should contact Dominic who runs his golf tournament,' Yang wrote. 'He said there may be opportunities to work with him on golf like we had done with Amanda for Pitch. The Duke wrote Dominic's number down on a piece of paper and I then reached out to Dominic.' Yang also suggested that the Duke wanted to keep a relationship with Chinese business in August 2021 because he 'needed money' Yang said that when the new ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, came to the UK, Hampshire was 'involved in the preparation of the talking points' of a call. He said the 'purpose of the note was to keep the Duke engaged without promising anything in terms of financial benefit because the Duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding.'
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK courts release new documents on Prince Andrew's relationship to alleged Chinese spy
Prince Andrew's links to an alleged Chinese spy were detailed in documents released Friday by British courts, which included a statement from a former close aide to the prince about the duke's line of communication to China's president Xi Jinping. The 10-page statement from Dominique Hampshire in May of 2024 was part of a tranche of documents released by the courts following a request from numerous British media organizations regarding Prince Andrew's relationship to the alleged spy, Yang Tengbo. The documents are part of Yang's appeal of his exclusion from the UK in December, which he lost. Yang reportedly forged a close relationship with the prince and was the co-founder of Pitch@Palace China, which expanded the duke's Pitch@Palace initiative into China. In a tribunal hearing in December that upheld the earlier decision to bar Yang from the UK, it was revealed that Yang was authorized to act on Prince Andrew's behalf during business meetings with potential Chinese investors in the UK. Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman told parliament in December she took the decision to ban Yang from the UK 'because his presence posed a threat to our national security' and was 'based on the advice of MI5,' the UK's domestic security agency. Yang has denied any wrongdoing. Hampshire also said Yang helped Prince Andrew draft letters to Xi discussing the Eurasia Fund, something Yang had described in his written evidence to the tribunal as a way to 'upgrade' the duke's Pitch@Palace initiative 'into an investment-type business, or a fund.' He was also tasked with talking to 'relevant people' in China, per British press agency PA. 'The royal household, including the late queen, were fully aware of this communication – it was certainly accepted and it may be fair to say it was even encouraged – it was an open channel of communication that was useful to have,' Hampshire said in the statement. Hampshire said he met twice with Prince Andrew and King Charles over the six months prior to giving his witness statement to discuss 'what the duke can do moving forwards in a way that is acceptable to His Majesty.' Those talks included discussing the Eurasia Fund, according to PA. Buckingham Palace said Friday that King Charles has met with Prince Andrew together with Hampshire over the past year to discuss proposals for independent funding, but Yang was never mentioned. The relationship between the prince and Yang came about shortly after the duke's disastrous 2019 BBC interview on his relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Hampshire said led to his belief that the prince's reputation was 'irrecoverable.' 'This was a common feeling within the royal household, despite what the duke thought may happen. It was very clear internally within the royal household that we would have to look at options for the duke's future away from royal duties,' Hampshire said in his witness statement, according to British news agency PA. According to PA, Hampshire also said he never saw a 'red flag' with Yang (who also went by the name Chris), and emphasized Yang 'categorically does not have a close relationship with the duke.' 'Chris, of course, doesn't have the duke's telephone number or his email address and does not have the ability to talk directly to the duke on his own - ever. This is normal practice and Chris's relationship with the duke is the same as numerous others,' he said, according to PA. He also said Andrew 'fully complied' with advice to end all contact with Yang. Hampshire said in a separate statement on Friday that he left the royal household in 2022 and no longer provides advice to Andrew, according to PA. CNN's Rob Picheta and Max Foster contributed to this report.
