Prince Andrew Faces New Setback Over Ties to Controversial Millionaire

Prince Andrew now faces additional scrutiny after reports indicated that one of his primary business holdings was managed for two years by an entity overseen by Doug Barrowman.

After the prince’s well-known Newsnight interview in 2019 regarding his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the legal ownership of his startup competition similar to Dragon's Den, called Pitch@Palace Global, was moved to an entity linked to Barrowman known as Knox House Trustees (UK).

The attorney for Mr. Barrowman asserted that he "never at any point... had any professional or personal connection with the duke."

According to The BBC, the contentious millionaire Barrowman and his spouse, businesswoman Baroness Michelle Mone who specializes in lingerie, recently admitted lying about their connections to a company that secured large government contracts during the Covid pandemic.

Documents from Companies House indicate that starting in 2021, Knox House Trustees (UK) acted as the nominal proprietor for the prince's enterprise.

Until 2023, this company was under the control and ownership of Mr. Barrowman.

Despite the shift in legal ownership, Pitch@Palace Global stayed under Prince Andrew's control.

This arrangement adhered to long-standing royal tradition, wherein possessions were held under the titles of various individuals or corporations functioning as " nominees" for members of the royal family.

Prince Andrew has never owned the company under his personal name.

In recent years, the financial matters of the Duke of York have faced significant examination.

There are ongoing questions regarding how he manages to keep up with the expenses of his Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor since King Charles has stopped providing financial support.

The selection of business partners made by the prince has likewise caused some surprise.

In December, he stated that he had "stopped all communication" with Yang Tengbo, who headed the Chinese division of Pitch@Palace, following UK government claims suggesting that Yang was involved in espionage activities.

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Mr. Yang has refuted these claims.

Even though it halted activities after the 2019 Newsnight interview, Pitch@Palace Global could now serve as a possible financial resource for the duke.

The global initiative featured contests held in places such as Australia, Bahrain, and China, and was set up as a profit-oriented enterprise based in the UK.

In his 2023 court testimony, Mr. Yang stated that Andrew required funds and viewed the connections with China via Pitch as a potential means of obtaining financial support.