Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been accused of covertly sharing ‘highly sensitive’ information regarding the divestment of numerous Lloyds branches, following the bank’s £20 billion taxpayer-funded rescue.
Documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday disclose that the former prince, now fallen from grace, had an official meeting with Lloyds’ new CEO at Buckingham Palace. During this meeting, he acquired vital insights into the £3 billion sale of the bank’s assets.
Remarkably, just hours after this meeting, Andrew reportedly relayed critical information to a banker friend. This friend is someone he has allegedly assisted multiple times in his role as the UK’s taxpayer-funded trade envoy.
In a significant development, former Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable expressed concern over the situation on Saturday night. He stated that the incident has a suspicious odor and should be part of a police investigation into possible misconduct in public office.
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Sir Vince emphasized the sensitivity of the information, noting, “If I, as a minister, or a senior civil servant, had disseminated such information, we would have faced severe repercussions.”
“All documents related to the bank’s sell-off were highly confidential at the time,” he added.
The extraordinary revelation is buried within a cache of leaked emails which detail how Andrew – who was sensationally arrested last month over suspicions of misconduct in public office – allowed controversial tycoon David Rowland and his son Jonathan to effectively join in with his official duties.
David, an 80-year-old property tycoon, was a tax exile for decades and, along with Jeffrey Epstein, helped pay off Sarah Ferguson’s massive debts.
Emails obtained by The Mail on Sunday reveal how the disgraced former prince (pictured at Ascot in 2019) held an official meeting with the bank’s new chief executive at Buckingham Palace where he gleaned crucial details about the £3billion sell-off of the bank’s assets
The extraordinary revelation is buried within a cache of leaked emails which detail how Andrew allowed controversial tycoon David Rowland (right) and his son Jonathan (left) to effectively join in with his official duties
Andrew once told Epstein that David, a former Tory Treasurer, was his ‘trusted money man’, while leaked emails show that Jonathan, 50, referred to Andrew as ‘our Duke’.
Jonathan was chief executive of Banque Havilland, a private bank for the super-rich in Luxembourg owned by the Rowland family, between 2009 and 2012.
The MoS has previously revealed how in 2010 Andrew appeared to send him a confidential Treasury briefing on the economic crisis gripping Iceland.
Now the MoS can reveal by February 2011 Andrew also appeared to have passed on sensitive information about Lloyds, another giant part-nationalised bank.
At the time the bank was under intense pressure from the European Commission to sell hundreds of branches and up to 19 per cent of its mortgage business as a condition of the ‘state aid’ it had received during its £20.3billion taxpayer-funded bailout.
Dubbed Project Verde, the sell-off of more than 600 branches was one of the biggest deals in British banking at the time and would allow the successful bidder to establish a new high street bank.
NBNK, set up by City big wig Lord Levene of Portsoken, had expressed an interest in the assets but other bids were expected.
The Court Circular – Buckingham Palace’s official list of royal engagements – shows that Andrew, who was Britain’s taxpayer-funded trade envoy, had an official meeting with Antonio Horta-Osorio, the incoming chief executive of Lloyds Bank, at Buckingham Palace on February 28, 2011.
The following day, Andrew sent a message to Jonathan Rowland outlining what he had learnt from the bank boss.
‘I’m sure you know but I saw the now CEO of Lloyds yesterday and today they announced their intention to sell their 620 branches,’ he wrote.
‘Levene is out in front but they want others to compete, BNP [French bank BNP Paribas] and BBVA [a Spanish bank] were suggested, I have asked Amanda to ask Levene for ME to be in for 5 per cent.’
It is unclear what Andrew meant by ‘ME’ and whether it is a reference to himself or another person or organisation.
The messages between Andrew and Jonathan Rowland came five months before those interested in snapping up the Lloyds branches had to submit their initial bids.
NBNK was listed on the London Stock Exchange but there is no evidence of Jonathan acting on Andrew’s information. Jonathan declined to comment.
Sir Vince described Andrew’s message to Jonathan as ‘totally improper’. He added: ‘We know from other reports that he [Andrew] was abusing his position and that indeed is the subject of the police investigation and this seems a particularly egregious example.
‘It sets a particularly bad example of the abuse of public office. It reeks of conflicts of interest.
The MoS has previously revealed how in 2010 Andrew appeared to send Jonathan a confidential Treasury briefing on the economic crisis gripping Iceland. Now the MoS can reveal by February 2011 Andrew also appeared to have passed on sensitive information about Lloyds. Pictured: File photo
In a major intervention, former Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable (pictured, in 2018) on Saturday night said the incident ‘reeks’ and should be probed as part of a police investigation into allegations of misconduct in public office
‘It strikes me as a totally improper conversation. I would hope the head of the bank, who I knew quite well, made it clear that the conversation was confidential and, if he did, then the ball is back in Andrew’s court – why did he abuse the confidentiality?’
City expert Ian Fraser, the author of an acclaimed book about the financial crisis, accused Andrew of feeding ‘insider information’ to his friends and branded him ‘completely unscrupulous’.
‘Within hours of his confidential meeting with Antonio Horta-Osorio, incoming chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group – a bank which was at the time still 41 per cent owned by the taxpayer – Andrew was sharing confidential information that he gleaned from that meeting with a banker friend and business associate who might have been able to profit from that information,’ he said.
Ultimately, Lord Levene lost after the Co-operative Group was announced as the ‘preferred bidder’ for the branches in December 2011, although the deal collapsed in 2013.
Mr Horta-Osorio on Saturday night declined to comment. Lord Levene told the MoS: ‘I have no recollection of Andrew having any involvement in the process.’
Meanwhile, further emails seen by the MoS reveal how in February 2009 Andrew emailed David Rowland the itinerary for his forthcoming trade envoy trip to Montenegro, saying: ‘Thought you might like to see the programme for Montenegro.’
The previous June, Jonathan Rowland had contacted Kevin Lyne, Britain’s ambassador for Montenegro, following a meeting at Buckingham Palace.
Mr Rowland highlighted that he and his family had arranged for the then Duke of York to meet Montenegro’s then Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and that ‘we are currently putting together a strategy to invest a significant amount of capital into Montenegro’.
But on the eve of Andrew’s trip in 2009, the Rowlands appeared to be frustrated that they were being sidelined by the Foreign Office.
Forwarding Andrew’s itinerary to Jonathan, David wrote: ‘They have been very busy behind our back, we should talk about this.’
His son replied: ‘We should definitely be in on this, we did all the work. We might be able to offer Djukanovic and his friends our services with the DOY’s [Duke of York’s] help.’ Andrew and the Rowlands did not respond to a request to comment.
Last month, we exposed how the former Duke shared, via email, sensitive information about the taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland with an investment banker.
Andrew forwarded his emails to his adviser David Stern, a German-born businessman, who in turn sent them on to Epstein.
