Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor ‘used taxpayers’ money to pay for massages while he was trade envoy’, civil servants claim

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor received taxpayer money for massages while working as Britain’s trade envoy, a retired civil servant has claimed.

Former staff who worked in Britain’s trade department in the early 2000s said the disgraced royal successfully covered both treatment costs and excessive travel expenses during his tenure between 2001 and 2011.

The officer claimed he was so annoyed by Andrew’s request that he refused to pay for the massage, only to be ‘overruled’ by senior staff.

“I thought it was wrong… I said we shouldn’t have paid, but we paid anyway,” he told the BBC.

The Department of Commerce and Trade declined to comment on the claim. Andrew has always denied any personal gain from his role as trade ambassador.

But a former senior Whitehall official who oversaw finances said he had seen similar expenses for Andrew’s trips, adding that he had “absolutely no doubt” about the massage claims.

The allegations come after Andrew was arrested in an early morning raid at his home in Wood Farm, Sandringham, on Thursday; King Charles has been urged to admit how much he knows about his brother’s alleged wrongdoing.

The former Duke of York is accused of sharing sensitive information with pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein during his time as special envoy for international trade and investment.

New allegations against Andrew since his arrest include:

• The photo, of a woman standing on all fours, is from her ‘farewell’ trip to Epstein’s New York apartment in 2010.
• His right-hand man David Stern joked about having sex on Epstein’s island after the billionaire was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution
• Epstein tried to strike a deal with an American investment firm that would have earned Andrew a £1 million advance

Andrew (center) in Bahrain as trade ambassador in 2014, flanked by Prince Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa (left) and Crown Prince and Bahraini Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa (right).

Andrew meets then Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien in Hanoi at the start of his three-day visit to the Communist country in June 2006.

Juan Alessi, Epstein’s former housekeeper in Florida, said in a 2009 videotaped interview under oath that Andrew would get a “daily massage” during his visit.

Speaking about allegations that taxpayers’ money was used for massages during his time as Britain’s trade envoy, the whistleblower said: ‘I can’t say it would have stopped it but we should have flagged something was wrong.’

A separate Whitehall official, who said Andrew was charging for excessive flights, hotel rooms and entourage, said: ‘I couldn’t believe it… it wasn’t like it was real money, they weren’t spending their own money.’

Andrew’s role as trade representative was unpaid, but he received support from civil servants as well as taxpayer funding for trips abroad.

Emails released by the US Department of Justice reveal that in 2010, Andrew’s right-hand man David Stern joked about having sex on Jeffrey Epstein’s island.

German investor Mr. Stern, Andrew’s closest business adviser, sent the email after Epstein was found guilty 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; Emails from November 2010 showed they also used the term when discussing having sex on the billionaire’s island.

If he wanted to have sex, Mr. Stern wrote, he would go to Little Saint James, referred to as LSJ, Epstein’s hideout in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The 72-acre island is at the center of some of the most serious allegations of Epstein’s abuse of his underage victims.

That same year, Andrew was allegedly photographed on all fours on top of a woman lying on the floor during his ‘farewell’ trip to Epstein’s New York flat.

A photo of the former Duke leaning over the woman was also published during the release of the Epstein files.

The photo, revealed by a Sun on Sunday investigation on Saturday, was likely from Andrew’s five-day visit to New York in 2010, which Andrew claimed was his last contact with his pedophile friend.

David Stern (left) with former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson in a photo released by the US Department of Justice in January

Emails released by the US Department of Justice after Andrew’s arrest also revealed how Epstein tried to broker a deal with an American investment firm that would have earned the duke a £1 million advance.

According to one proposed version, the former prince would receive a 40 percent cut of future profits due to his connection with Cantor Fitzgerald; the same amount would go to the firm, and the remaining 20 percent would go to German business consultant David Stern.

Andrew’s plan to use his connections to promote ‘asset management firms, sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals’ was discussed by Epstein and Stern in the autumn of 2013, the Daily Telegraph reported.

This was almost three years after the then Duke of York claimed he had cut ties with the billionaire.

The ten-year deal, which ultimately did not go ahead, would have required the advance to be paid to Urramoor, a company Andrew owned through a trust. Fees from promotions would pay off the loan.

In email correspondence between Epstein and Stern, the men discussed the terms of the deal.

Stern wrote at one point: ‘Can we do 40/40/20 instead of 50/50? 20 for me?’

He added: ‘This is the original PA idea.’

Epstein replied ‘yes’ and Stern wrote ‘dankeschon’.

The terms were reportedly sent by Howard Lutnick, chairman and chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, who is now Donald Trump’s commerce secretary and has faced scrutiny for his ties to Epstein.

David Stern was seen sitting next to the late Queen Elizabeth during the launch of Andrew’s Pitch@Palace at St James’s Palace in London in 2014.

The draft agreement also states that Andrew must waive his sovereign immunity in the event of any breach of the agreement.

This would allow for legal action to be taken against him in the event of a dispute. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing regarding the Epstein case.

Stern recently resigned from his position at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.

He resigned ‘effective immediately’ when asked about his relationship with the disgraced school financier.

Following a raft of new allegations and evidence against Andrew, the Royal Family has faced calls to reveal how much they knew about his behavior before his arrest.

The Mail on Sunday revealed how Charles was warned as long ago as 2019 that the Royal Family’s name was being ‘exploited’ by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s business associations.

In a bombshell email, a whistleblower told the Palace that the former Duke had secret financial links with controversial millionaire financier David Rowland, who exploited his royal connections.

Messages seen by this newspaper also show Andrew allowing Mr Rowland to effectively participate in his official duties.

The cache of emails, triggered by Andrew’s links to Epstein and allegations that he passed potentially confidential and sensitive documents to the pedophile, threatens to draw Charles even further into crisis.

The Daily Mail contacted Andrew for comment. The Ministry of Trade and Commerce declined to comment.