GREEDY Prince Andrew’s dodgy deals could bring down the monarchy – and he must be held to account, an expert has slammed.
The disgraced Duke of York has come to a commercial agreement with Dutch-based firm Startupbootcamp (SBC) to use contacts he made from his Pitch@Palace initiative which could earn him millions.
Prince Andrew is set to make millions in the deal[/caption]
The Duke of York speaks during a Pitch@Palace event[/caption]
Andrew is under pressure to prove income streams for Royal Lodge[/caption]
Under the agreement, the Prince, 64, is paid for each deal SBC strikes in territories worldwide.
Royal author and former Home Office minister Norman Baker told The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show what Andrew has done is “out of order” and may well be illegal.
He said the data the duke is selling off doesn’t belong to him personally, but to the entrepreneurs the scheme was supposed to benefit.
Mr Baker said: “For him now to sell it off, is disreputable, it’s improper, it maybe illegal, and I intend to file a complaint with the Information Commission to suggest he’s breaking data protection laws by using information given for one purpose for an entirely different one.”
The expert added: “Prince Andrew has been interested in Prince Andrew and nothing else he might have been representing, such as the Royal Family.
“I’m afraid he’s a sleazeball… and he needs to be held to account for that.”
Officials from SBC pitched the moneymaking idea to Buckingham Palace officials last summer before the deal with Andrew was agreed.
Weeks later, the King pulled his £1million annual funding for his brother, who he had been trying to evict from Royal Lodge.
But Andrew has remained at his Windsor home and Palace sources have said they received assurances about his funding streams.
A source said: “He will earn money from each deal SBC secures from his Pitch@Palace work and the windfall will help enable him to hold on to Royal Lodge.
“It is a way of exploiting the enviable business links he has secured over the years.”
This is the first time Andrew has been known to do any work since he stepped down as a working royal before being stripped of his titles by the late Queen three years ago.
Scandal-hit Andrew had stepped away from the Pitch@Palace scheme, which matched entrepreneurs with investors, after his “car crash” Newsnight interview over links to dead paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Mr Baker fumed: “Pitch@Palace was setup – and people engaged in that, companies, individuals, because they wanted to help start up businesses.
“They wanted to make sure entrepreneurs were assisted. They wanted to make sure the UK benefited as a country.
“It didn’t join up to give Andrew a source of private income.
“It was seen as a government, a public initiative. Buckingham Palace was used for this purpose.”
He added: “We can’t trust Prince Andrew and we haven’t been able to trust him for about 20 years, back to the time he was Britain’s Trade Envoy.
“It’s very clear from his engagements in that time – he was acting not for Britain, he was acting for himself.
“He was doing private deals on the side, getting commission from dodgy dictators for particular activities at that stage.”
Mr Baker referred to Andrew intending to take a two percent commission for deals which led to some people being “horrified”, before pulling out.
Kauan von Novack, CEO of Startupbootcamp said: “Our mission is to help entrepreneurs to create the change the world needs.
“We see immense value in the network built up by Pitch@Palace.”
A Palace source said: “Buckingham Palace officials have neither reviewed nor approved the details of any financial arrangements between the Duke or his advisers and any third party.”
The Duke of York was approached for comment.
Andrew was forced to step back royal duties in 2019[/caption]
