Prince Andrew is now facing a new controversy over his alleged involvement with a millionaire financier. The Duke of York allegedly exploited his former position as the United Kingdom's trade envoy for his interest to help his business partner. With all these ordeals, Queen Elizabeth II and other senior members of the royal family, including Prince Charles, reportedly received a warning about this issue four months before it got exposed to the public, but they didn't mind it at all.
According to Express, Her Majesty and the senior members of the royal family received warning letters in August about her second son's business links with David Rowland. Allegedly, Prince Andrew helped the property developer while on taxpayer-funded official trips.
The letters were said to be from a whistleblower who wanted to warn the monarchy over Prince Andrew's friendship with David Rowland. The two reportedly co-owned an offshore fund in the British Virgin Islands tax haven.
Prince Charles didn't directly receive the warning letters, but sources said he was informed about the issue. The Royal Household's lawyers reportedly dealt with the concern, but they deemed the case was too vague to take action.
Hence, Queen Elizabeth and her advisers decided not to act about the matter. Instead, she allowed her supposed favorite son to continue his duties. He even got the honor to receive the salute from 10,000 veterans at Horse Guards Parade on Remembrance Sunday last month.
Buckingham Palace refused to reveal what it knew about Prince Andrew's relationship with David Rowland. It also stayed mum about the Queen's reaction over his activities to act on his business partner's behalf while on official duties abroad while doing his role as the U.K. Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. Palace officials, too, denied revealing if Queen Elizabeth, her advisers, or her lawyers talked to Andrew about his connection with Rowland.
Business Times recently reported that there is a growing demand to launch a probe to investigate Prince Andrew's business affairs after a trail of emails revealed that he exploited his role as the U.K.'s trade envoy after he helped David Rowland. He allegedly drummed up business for a Luxembourg-based bank for Rowland. He also requested for private government documents and let his business associates see it.
A separate business in the Cayman Islands was also made to persuade Prince Andrew's wealthy royal friends to invest in it. However, when he got dismissed in his position in 2011, David Rowland's son, Jonathan Rowland, allegedly told him to continue their business "under the radar," which the duke said that he "liked."
