Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor charged taxpayers for massages while working as the UK’s trade envoy, a retired civil servant has claimed.
The former member of staff, who worked in the UK’s trade department in the early 2000s, said the disgraced royal successfully expensed the treatment as well as excessive travel costs during his time in the role between 2001 and 2011.
The civil servant alleged he was so annoyed by Andrew’s request that he’d refused to pay for the massage, but he was ‘overruled’ by senior staff.
‘I thought it was wrong… I’d said we mustn’t pay it, but we ended up paying it anyway,’ he told the BBC.
The Department for Business and Trade declined to comment on the claim. Andrew has always denied any personal gain from his role as trade envoy.
But a former senior Whitehall official, who oversaw finances, said he saw similar expenses for Andrew’s trips, adding he had ‘absolutely no doubt’ about the massage claims.
The fresh allegations come after Andrew was arrested amid an early morning raid on his Wood Farm home in Sandringham on Thursday – with calls for King Charles to admit how much he knew of his brother’s alleged wrongdoing.
The former Duke of York’s role as trade representative was unpaid, but he received taxpayer funding for his overseas trips, as well as the support of civil servants.
Andrew photographed leaving Aylsham Police Station in Norfolk following his arrest on Thursday
David Stern (left) with former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex wife Sarah Ferguson in a picture released in January by the US Department of Justice
David Stern referred to Jeffrey Epstein (pictured) as his ‘boss’ and even asked him to be godfather to his child
Epstein Island (Pictured), officially known as Little Saint James, was purchased by Epstein in 1998
In 2010, Andrew’s right-hand man David Stern joked about having sex on Jeffrey Epstein’s island, emails released by the US Department of Justice have revealed.
German investor Mr Stern, who went on to become Andrew’s closest business advisor, sent the email after Epstein was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution, The Telegraph reported.
In their correspondence, Mr Stern and Epstein often used the letter ‘P’ as a derogatory term to describe young women – with the newly disclosed emails from November 2010 showing they also used the term when discussing having sex on the billionaire’s island.
Mr Stern wrote that if he wanted sex, he would go to Little Saint James, referred to as LSJ, Epstein’s hideaway in the US Virgin Islands.
The 72-acre island is at the centre of some of the most serious allegations of abuse from Epstein’s underage victims.
In the same year, Andrew was allegedly photographed on all fours over a woman on the floor during his ‘goodbye’ trip to Epstein’s apartment in New York.
Amid the release of the Epstein files, a photo of the former duke bending over the woman was released.
The photo was likely from Andrew’s five-day visit to New York in 2010, a Sun on Sunday investigation revealed on Saturday, which Andrew claimed was the last time he had contact with his paedophile friend.
Previously a little-known German advisor, Stern has raised suspicion in the past for asserting things about himself which turned out not to be true
Following Andrew’s arrest, emails released by the US Department of Justice also appeared to reveal how Epstein tried to broker a deal with an American investment firm that would have netted the duke a £1million advance.
The former prince would have also received a 40 per cent cut of future profits in the link-up with Cantor Fitzgerald, with the same amount going to the firm and the remaining 20 per cent to German business consultant David Stern, according to one proposed version.
The plan to use Andrew’s connections to introduce ‘asset management firms, sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors and high net worth individuals’, reported by the Daily Telegraph, was discussed by Epstein and Stern in autumn 2013.
This was almost three years after the then Duke of York claimed to have severed ties with the billionaire.
The ten-year agreement, which did not ultimately go ahead, would have seen the advance paid to Urramoor, a company owned by Andrew through a trust. Fees from introductions would have paid off the loan.
In email exchanges between Epstein and Stern, the men discussed the terms of the deal.
Stern wrote at one point: ‘Instead of 50/50, can we do 40/40/20? 20 for me?’
He added: ‘This is original PA idea.’
Epstein replied ‘yes’ and Stern wrote ‘dankeschon’.
The terms were reportedly sent over by Howard Lutnick, the chairman and chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, who is now Donald Trump’s secretary of commerce and has faced scrutiny for his links to Epstein.
David Stern seen sitting beside the late Queen Elizabeth during Andrew’s Pitch@Palace launch at St James’s Palace in London in 2014
The draft agreement also appears to say Andrew would have to waive sovereign immunity for any breaches of the agreement.
This would allow legal action against him if there were a dispute. Andrew has always denied wrongdoing in relation to the Epstein case.
Stern recently resigned from his post at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.
He stepped down with ‘immediate effect’ after the school was asked about his relationship with the disgraced financier.
Following the string of fresh allegations and evidence against Andrew, the Royal Family is facing calls to reveal how much they knew about Andrew’s behaviour prior to his arrest.
The Mail on Sunday revealed how Charles was warned as long ago as 2019 that the Royal Family’s name was being ‘abused’ by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s business associations.
In a bombshell email, a whistleblower told the Palace that the former Duke had secret financial links to controversial millionaire financier David Rowland, who was abusing his royal links.
Messages seen by this newspaper also appear to show that Andrew allowed Mr Rowland to effectively join in with his official duties.
The cache of emails threaten to draw Charles further into the crisis, triggered by Andrew’s links to Epstein, and allegations he passed potentially confidential and sensitive documents to the paedophile.
The Daily Mail has contacted Andrew for comment. The Department for Business and Trade declined to comment.
