Prince Andrew held investments in shell company set up to keep holdings secret
Prince Andrew held his shareholdings through a government-backed shell company that wascreated to conceal royal investments from public scrutiny.
The prince was among at least five members of the royal family who used the shell company Bank of England Nominees, which was set up in the 1970s to prevent the“embarrassing” public disclosure of Queen Elizabeth II’s investments.
The monarch successfully lobbied the government to alter a draft law in order to permit the Windsors to hide the size and value of their shareholdings from the public. The shell company operated for more than 30 years.
Cost of the crown is an investigation into royal wealth and finances. The series, published ahead of the coronation of King Charles III, is seeking to overcome centuries of secrecy to better understand how the royal family is funded, the extent to which individual members have profited from their public roles, and the dubious origins of some of their wealth. The Guardian believes it is in the public interest to clarify what can legitimately be called private wealth, what belongs to the British people, and what, as so often is the case, straddles the two.
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The Guardian has established that the queen was not the only royal to use the facility. Her sister Princess Margaret, her husband Prince Philip, and her children Charles and Andrew also held shares via Bank of England Nominees.
Andrew’s use of the shell company, which has not previously been reported, is significant becausehe was a government “special trade envoy” at the same time. Through this role he would have had access to commercially sensitive
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