Former Dragons’ Den star Julie Meyer has been stripped of her MBE three years after she was scolded by a British judge for being ‘selfish’ after refusing to turn up to court or pay her lawyers, it has been revealed.
The venture capitalist, 58, was handed a six-month suspended sentence for contempt of court after she repeatedly failed to submit documents and attend hearings relating to £200,000 in unpaid fees to her solicitors, Farrer & Co.
Meyer was awarded an MBE in 2012 for her services to entrepreneurship and was invited to sit on two government advisory panels that year.
Yet last night it emerged she has forfeited the award for ‘bringing the honours system into disrepute’.
Her name appears alongside 11 others on a newly-updated list published by the Cabinet Office of individuals stripped of their prestigious gongs since August 2023.
At least six of these – all men – were stripped after being convicted of child sex offences, while the others were found guilty of misconduct or acting inappropriately.
They include nuclear submarine captain Commander Iain Fergusson who was handed an OBE despite being the subject of a major sex abuse and bullying probe, and former senior Army officer Andrew Whiddett, who was convicted of asking mothers in the Philippines to sexually abuse their children in front of him on a webcam.
Meyer is also one of only two women on the infamous list in recent years – the other being former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells, who forfeited a CBE for her handling of the Horizon IT scandal.
She now joins a roll of shamed individuals that more recently include Grime star Wiley, who made anti-Semitic remarks and likened Jews to the Ku Klux Klan, paralympian Anthony Griffin, who was jailed for dealing heroin and PR guru Anthony Bailey, who was found in contempt for breaching a divorce agreement.
Despite her being stripped of the title, she is still styling herself as having an MBE on her multiple websites and LinkedIn.
Under fire: Former Dragons’ Den star Julie Meyer has been stripped of her MBE three years after being scolded by a British judge over her refusal to pay her lawyers, it has been revealed
Meyer was awarded an honorary MBE in 2012 for her services to entrepreneurship, but last night it emerged she has forfeited the award for ‘bringing the honours system into disrepute’
Meyer joins former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells, who forfeited her CBE for her handling of the Horizon IT scandal, on the infamous list of forfeited individuals
The American-born businesswoman was hailed as one of two new Dragons chosen for an online version of the BBC Two show in 2009 and she formerly advised David Cameron‘s government.
Meyer was lauded for her business instinct and supported major internet and tech brands early on in their development, including lastminute.com and Skype.
But her name hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2022 when she became embroiled in a legal fight with Farrers, the law firm engaged by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
When she failed to turn up to a court hearing on Valentine’s Day that year, the judge dramatically issued a warrant for her arrest.
Controversially, the entrepreneur said she had been unable to travel from her home in Switzerland due to conjunctivitis and not having received a Covid vaccine.
But it was ruled her medical evidence was not grounds to avoid attending the court hearings in person.
She was said to owe almost £200,000 to Farrers, which represented her in a court case in Malta.
The High Court heard she failed to pay Farrer partner Julian Pike £197,000, claiming the firm had provided a poor standard of service, which had been worth about £50,000.
Disgraced former senior Army officer Andrew Whiddett, 76, of Portsmouth, lost his MBE after he was jailed in 2019 for asking mothers in the Philippines to sexually abuse their children in front of him on a webcam
Former choirmaster and teacher David Pickthall was stripped of his MBE after he pleaded guilty last October to a series of child sexual offences spanning 40 years
Priest Timothy Biles, 89, of Sherborne, Dorset, was stripped of his MBE after being found guilty of sexually assaulting boys in the 1960s
When Meyer was handed a six-month suspended sentence, Mr Justice Kerr said she had shown herself ‘to be a selfish and untrustworthy person’.
The judge said: ‘I am satisfied there is every prospect that the defendant will continue to flout orders of the court unless coerced into obeying them.’
He added that some of the evidence filed on Meyer’s behalf sought to show her as ‘too important for the courts of England and Wales to take precedent over her other interests’.
In her defence, Meyer said the law firm had ‘abused their privileged position as the Queen’s lawyers’ and claimed they had ‘harassed’ her and her firm.
She lost an appeal to overturn the suspended prison sentence later that year.
On her website, she claims to have secured £880million in capital investment and boasts of her ‘royal recognition’ — her MBE.
The American moved to London in July 1998 and made millions from the $50million sale of her firm First Tuesday, a networking group for entrepreneurs and investors, in July 2000.
In her Dragons’ Den biography, she was described as a World Economic Forum Global Leader for Tomorrow, an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year and a regular speaker on entrepreneurship and leadership.
The Daily Mail has contacted Meyer for comment.
Despite her being stripped of the title, she is still styling herself as having an MBE on her multiple websites and LinkedIn
The other new individuals revealed as having forfeited their honours include child sex abuser Wayne O’Donnell, 66, from North Yorkshire, who was jailed for 18 years for raping and sexually abusing two young girls. His MBE, awarded in 1994, has now been taken away from him.
Priest Timothy Biles, 89, of Sherborne, Dorset, was stripped of his MBE after being found guilty of sexually assaulting boys in the 1960s at St Francis School in Hooke, leading to him being handed a six-year jail sentence last December.
Disgraced former senior Army officer Andrew Whiddett, 76, of Portsmouth, was jailed in 2019 for asking mothers in the Philippines to sexually abuse their children in front of him on a webcam.
World-renowned classical music conductor Jan Latham-Koenig, 71, lost his OBE after admitting arranging sex acts with someone he thought was a 14-year-old boy
Christian youth festival founder Mike Pilavachi, 67, forfeited his MBE after allegations that he wrestled with young men and gave them ‘oil massages’ while they were in their underwear
Whiddett had served in the forces with distinction for 30 years and ‘dedicated his life to the country’ before moving into security in the Middle East – including working at the British Embassy in Baghdad. He has now forfeited the MBE he was handed in 1988.
Former choirmaster and teacher David Pickthall pleaded guilty last October to a series of child sexual offences spanning his career of more than 40 years.
Essex Police said he was charged as part of an investigation into alleged offences against 19 people between 1980 and 2021 in Brentwood and Upminster.
The former teacher has been stripped of his MBE awarded in 2015 for services to education and charity.
Commander Iain Fergusson, the former captain of HMS Vigilant, faced a barrage of bullying and sex abuse complaints brought by whistleblower Sophie Brooke last year.
He was cleared of alleged sexual assault by putting his penis in Lt Brook’s pocket, but other claims were substantiated, including that he licked her ear, blew on her neck and punched her in the kidneys during periscope training.
Cdr Fergusson has now had to hand back the OBE he controversially received while the claims were being probed in 2024.
Christian youth festival founder Mike Pilavachi, 67, who established Soul Survivor Anglican Church in 1995, stepped down from the ministry after allegations surfaced two years ago that he wrestled with young men and gave them ‘oil massages’ while they were in their underwear.
Maths teacher Dr Richard Evans lost his OBE he received for fundraising during Covid after he was found guilty of misconduct at Copland Community School in Wembley
Commander Iain Fergusson, the former captain of HMS Vigilant, lost his OBE and faced a barrage of bullying and sex abuse claims brought by whistleblower Sophie Brooke
He has now forfeited the MBE he was given in 2020.
World-renowned classical music conductor Jan Latham-Koenig, 71, was caught in a police sting at London Victoria train station last January after arranging to meet what he believed was a 14-year-old boy he had met on a dating site.
But the boy was an undercover police officer posing as a child.
He was given a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and has now forfeited the OBE he received in 2020 for services to music and UK-Russian cultural relations.
Maths teacher Dr Richard Evans was also forced to hand back the OBE he received for fundraising during Covid after he was found guilty of misconduct.
Wayne O’Donnell (left) lost his MBE after he was jailed for raping and sexually abusing two girls, while former Salford priest Peter Conniffe (right) lost his MBE after he was found to have sexually abused a 15-year-old girl during the late 1970s
Harry Legg, a former Acting Sheriff and Justice of the Peace for St Helena, pleaded guilty to the historical sexual assault of young boys – resulting in the loss of his OBE
The former deputy of Copland Community School in Wembley, west London, was one of four staff members and two governors accused of defrauding the school to the tune of £2.7million in bonuses.
Evans was found to have received unauthorised and excessive bonuses totalling £180,000.
Former Salford priest Peter Conniffe was stripped of his MBE for ‘bringing the honours system into disrepute’ after an investigation found he groomed and sexually abused a 15-year-old girl during the late 1970s, before raping her when she was 24.
In 2019 he wrote a letter of apology to the woman, which was made public.
Harry Legg, a former Acting Sheriff and Justice of the Peace for St Helena, was jailed for five-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to the historical sexual assault of young boys – resulting in the loss of his OBE.
Sean Cox was stripped of the MBE he received in 1999 after receiving a criminal conviction.
