Prince Andrew spotted at members club seconds before tycoon who Duke ‘faked name to set up firm with’ just 7 weeks ago
PRINCE Andrew was snapped leaving a members club seconds before his tycoon pal – the same friend who he was revealed to have set up a firm with under a fake name.
Tycoon Johan Eliasch and the Duke were pictured leaving Harry’s Bar in Mayfair moments apart were taken just seven weeks ago, suggesting the old pals could still be in touch 17 years after they reportedly went into business together.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.
The Queen’s son reportedly used the name Andrew Inverness as he launched Naples Gold Limited with Mr Eliasch – the businessman who organised the 2001 holiday that saw the royal photographed with a “bevy of topless beauties”.
It is believed the royal had been visiting his friend when he was photographed on the yacht off Thailand in 2001, with the Monaco businessman footing part of his bill at the luxurious Amanpuri Hotel.
‘BUSINESS PARTNERS’
And the Daily Mail reported the pair also went into business together, launching the company in 2002 together.
In business documents, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor uses the name Andrew Inverness, apparently taken from his lesser known title, the Earl of Inverness.
Both Prince Andrew and Andrew Inverness – who lists himself as a professional consultant – share the birthdate of February 19, 1960.
The decision to use the pseudonym was “in order to avoid media attention”, it was claimed.
Since its inception 17 years ago, Prince Andrew has not spoken publicly about Naples Gold Ltd.
It was previously claimed Prince Andrew has used the same fake name, holding a 40 per cent stake in a company called Inverness Asset Management.
The company is registered in the British Virgin Islands, set up with wealthy benefactor David “Spotty” Rowland.
The royal was again linked to another company – listed as a creditor of a luxury ski company called Descent International.
While the company collapsed, a liquidator spokesperson said they understood the listed “Andrew Inverness” was the Queen’s second son.
EMBATTLED ROYAL
The revelations come as Prince Andrew has been faced with mounting criticism over his friendship with paedo financier Jeffrey Epstein.
It is understood Epstein and his alleged madame Ghislaine Maxwell – who has vanished amid the investigation – were also in Thailand at the time the photograph was snapped of Prince Andrew in 2001.
Most recently, Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson blasted the “nonsense” claims made against the royal.
Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, says she was trafficked by US billionaire paedophile Epstein and ordered to have sex with the Prince.
She alleges she was forced to sleep with the Duke of York at Ghislaine Maxwell’s home London, in New York and the US Virgin Islands as a 17-year-old in 2001.
Andrew has denied the allegations and says he has no recollection of meeting her, with Fergie now backing him.
There are also fears The Queen’s is struggling to write her Christmas speech and is having a “very difficult time” after sacking her son Prince Andrew following his disastrous BBC interview over his relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Meanwhile, Ms Roberts, 36, – now known as Virginia Giuffre, has claimed the FBI has informed her about “a credible threat” against her life.
In a Twitter post this week, she wrote: “I have been informed from the F.B.I there has been a credible death threat against me.”
Ms Roberts has previously claimed”evil people” want to keep her “quiet”, tweeting: “If something happens to me, don’t let it go“.
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Speaking to Panorama over her claims she was forced to sleep with Andrew, she said: “It was disgusting. He got up and said thanks and walked out and I sat there in bed, I felt horrified and ashamed and dirty.”
The programme aired two weeks after Prince Andrew’s car crash Newsnight interview about the ‘sex slave’ scandal.
In response to the BBC interview, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said the Duke “unequivocally regrets his ill-judged association with Jeffrey Epstein” and “deeply sympathises with those affected who want some form of closure.”
The Palace declined to comment on the reports of Naples Gold Ltd.
