Tag: the royals

MPs probe Crown Estate after it rakes in £1.1billion profit from offshore wind farms

The Crown Estate is facing fresh scrutiny as it emerged it is raking in over a billion pounds of profit from offshore wind farms.

The estate, which owns the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland on behalf of the monarch, recorded profits of £1.1billion in each of the past two financial years – an increase of £658m from 2022-23.

And as King Charles was urged to stop Britain’s seabed being used as a ‘cash machine’, The Mail on Sunday can reveal MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC) are set to investigate. 

The committee last week launched a probe into the Crown Estate’s leases on properties to members of the Royal Family after questions over the peppercorn rent paid by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to live in 30-room Royal Lodge.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the PAC, told the MoS: ‘Given that wind farms are such an important part of the Crown Estate’s income, the issue will inevitably feature when we do our inquiry.’ 

Greenpeace called on the King to intervene, alleging the Crown Estate has ‘exploited’ its monopoly position to charge hefty fees for the leases which, it claims, is forcing up UK energy bills.

The environmental campaign group claims the estate, whose £15billion portfolio also includes property and vast areas of land, removed a cap on the so-called ‘option fees’ developers pay to reserve rights to the seabed, contributing to the surging profits.

Once the wind farms start to generate electricity, the Crown Estate receives 2 per cent of the revenue generated. 

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Disgraceful: Duchess Meghan Accused of Stealing $1,700 Dress from Photoshoot, Using the ‘Archiving’ of Her Royal Clothing as the Excuse

Former C-list actress Meghan Markle — more commonly known as the henpecking wife of England’s Prince Harry — has been accused of stealing a nearly $1,700 designer gown she wore for a 2022 magazine photo shoot.

The accusations surfaced after Markle was spotted wearing the one-shoulder, emerald-green Galvan dress in her latest self-aggrandizing Netflix special.

Markle “took the dress from the shoot without asking,” a source told Page Six.

The carpet-bagging “Duchess of Sussex” first wore the gown for a Variety magazine cover shoot three years ago.

Apparently, Markle has a habit of taking expensive clothes without paying for them.

Markle reportedly did not return “a lot of stuff” after she “wore it in a very high-profile photo shoot,” Vanity Fair contributing writer Vanessa Grigoriadis said in 2024.

“What’s shocking about hearing these kinds of alleged stories is that somebody who is living in a $15 million-plus mansion in Montecito, who’s just had $100 million deals, would care enough to take home some jewelry and clothes from a photoshoot that she can clearly afford,” Grigoriadis said, per Page Six.

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Epstein ‘bankrolled Sarah Ferguson for 15 years’ and she ‘took daughters to celebrate his release from prison in US’ astonishing emails claim

Jeffrey Epstein secretly bankrolled Sarah Ferguson for 15 years, astonishing new emails claim.

The convicted paedophile complained to friends about the disgraced duchess’s scrounging ways in messages that suggest his financial support went far beyond the £15,000 she admitted taking from him.

In the previously unseen emails, Epstein reveals Fergie was so desperate to cosy up to him that ‘she was the first to celebrate’ his release from jail ‘with her two daughters in tow’. Princess Beatrice would have been 20 at the time and Eugenie 19, the same age as many of his victims.

The shocking claims are contained in a huge tranche of documents under review by the US Congress. They are set to be released once they have been redacted to protect the identity of hundreds of young girls Epstein raped and sexually abused.

The sordid nature of Fergie’s relationship with the paedophile and the chummy tone of their correspondence makes sickening reading that will repulse the sex offender’s many victims.

Emails seen by The Mail on Sunday show: 

  • Fergie begged to borrow $50,000 to $100,000 to help with ‘small bills’;
  • She asked to visit Epstein’s private island, joking whether her financial woes made it ‘unavailable to bankrupts?’
  • Epstein paid off debts the duchess owed a former employee but became angry when she failed to pay him back as promised;
  • While disavowing Epstein in public, Fergie kept up contact and let him help set up a charity for her;
  • Epstein brazenly gave Fergie ‘talking points’ before she was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey. 

Tonight a well-placed source said: ‘Sarah and Prince Andrew have always maintained they distanced themselves from Epstein after his conviction for child prostitution. In fact, it was Epstein who ended up dumping them. He got sick and tired of Sarah constantly asking him for money.

‘She borrowed far more money off him than has ever come out. In public she said one thing but in private she was always holding out the begging bowl.’

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Prince Andrew gives up royal title with King Charles’ support

Prince Andrew has relinquished his royal title.

“In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family,” a statement released by the royal, and obtained by Fox News Digital, read. “I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”

“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further,” the statement continued. “I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”

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Prince Andrew could be banned from shooting on royal estates after bombshell email contradicted his claim to have cut off Jeffrey Epstein

Prince Andrew could be banned from fun activities such as shooting on royal estates after a bombshell email contradicted his claim to have cut off all contact with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

As calls mounted for Andrew to be stripped of his title of Duke of York, royal insiders revealed that stopping the exclusive gatherings was one option being considered.

It comes after the Mail on Sunday revealed a deeply damaging message he sent to the US financier telling him ‘we are in this together’ a day after the paper first published the notorious picture of the Duke with his alleged teenage sex victim.

Andrew told Epstein in February 2011 he was ‘concerned’ about the impact the revelations would have on his friend, but reassured the vile billionaire that the pair would ‘rise above’ press scrutiny.

It finally disproves the Duke’s claim in his now-infamous interview with BBC‘s Newsnight that he ‘never had any contact’ with Epstein after the pair were pictured walking together in New York’s Central Park in December 2010.

Just last month the MoS exposed how the Duchess of York wrote Epstein a gushing message calling him her ‘supreme friend’ – despite telling journalists she would never have anything to do with him again.

The furore has once again raised questions about Andrew’s role and lifestyle after he was stripped of his royal duties and use of his HRH title by the late Queen.

Now sources have told the Daily Mail that one option being considered is to stop him from hosting shooting parties on royal estates.

Andrew was pictured hosting one at Windsor in January 2024 – days after humiliating new court documents relating to Epstein reportedly caused the Duke to ‘lock himself away in a room’.

He continues to live at his 30-room Royal Lodge mansion there despite repeated calls for him to be removed.

However it is understood that the Duke and Duchess of York will not be welcome at the Royal Family’s Christmas celebrations at Sandringham.

A YouGov poll over the summer found two-thirds of people favoured stripping Andrew of his remaining titles.

However a private members’ bill proposed by York Central MP Rachael Maskell to give the Monarch the powers to do so ran out of time before the general election.

Yesterday the Labour backbencher renewed her call for the link between the city and the disgraced Duke to be severed.

‘The tragedy is that victims and survivors suffer every day and every time new revelations are made about this horrendous web of abuse and those associated with Mr Epstein,’ Ms Maskell told the Daily Mail.

‘Honesty and candour seems to be absent in so many people’s accounts, furthering the trauma of those who have suffered.

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Jeffrey Epstein Reportedly Threatened to ‘Destroy’ Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew, Prompting the Duchess of York To Write Apologetic Email That Is Now Thrashing Her Reputation

Fergie alleges to have experienced the dark side of Epstein.

We are reporting on all the people around the world who are falling into disgrace because of their close ties to late pedophile and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Right now, controversial Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson is under fire for a resurfaced email she wrote Epstein in which she described him as a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’.

Fergie also ‘humbly apologized’ for criticizing him in public, telling him she understood that he felt ‘hellaciously let down by [her]’.

As a result of the revelations, the Duchess has been dropped as a patron by several charities, such as Julia’s House (children’s hospice); Teenage Cancer Trust; Natasha Allergy Research Foundation; Children’s Literacy Charity; Prevent Breast Cancer; British Heart Foundation; National Foundation for Retired Service Animals.

So, now the York camp has gone to bat on the press, trying to justify her behavior – but it may well backfire and cause even more trouble.

Fergie’s spokesman has told The Telegraph that the incriminating email was a reaction to threats by Epstein, who vowed to ‘destroy her’ using a ‘Hannibal Lecter-style’ voice in a phone call.

“The Duchess’s spokesman told The Telegraph that Epstein was incensed by her description of him as a pedophile and made a ‘chilling’ phone call in which he threatened to take legal action.

‘People don’t understand how terrible Epstein was. I can remember everything about that call. It was a chilling call and I’m surprised anybody was ever friends with him given the way he talked to me. He said he would destroy the York family and he was quite clear on that. He said he would destroy me. He wasn’t shouting. He had a Hannibal Lecter-type voice. It was very cold and calm and really menacing and nasty.”

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‘SUPREME FRIEND’: Sarah Ferguson, Under Fire, Has Patronage Removed from Four Charities – Email Surfaces of Duchess of York Telling Epstein She Was Lying When She Disowned Him

The ‘Epstein curse’ caught up to Fergie.

Over the decades, the sexual exploits and shady business deals of the Duchess of York were every bit as bad and scandalous as those perpetrated by her disgraced former husband, Prince Andrew.

It was only when the Jeffrey Epstein scandal hit overdrive, and with the sequence of lies told by ‘randy Andy’ that he eclipsed her in the outrage department.

But now, Fergie is back, under fire for her very own Epstein ties, and her very own lies.

A few weeks ago, during her DOJ interviews, Ghislaine Maxwell stated that it was Ferguson who introduced Epstein to Andrew.

Maxwell also stated that the Duchess of York was trying to ‘put the moves’ on Epstein.

But an email from 2011 has recently surfaced that really sent Fergie into the doghouse, in which she called the late sex Epstein her ‘supreme friend’.

The reaction was swift: the Duchess of York has been removed as patron of four charities.

BBC reported:

“Julia’s House, a children’s hospice charity serving families in Dorset and Wiltshire, was the first to remove Sarah Ferguson, the former wife of Prince Andrew, saying it was ‘inappropriate’ for her to continue in the role.

Later on Monday, the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity and Prevent Breast Cancer also announced they had dropped the duchess as patron.”

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Princess Diana’s Grand-Niece Found Dead Under Mysterious Circumstances

Rosie Roche, who was the granddaughter of the late Princess Diana’s uncle, was found dead at her home in Wiltshire, England.

Roche, who is the grand-niece of Princess Diana and the cousin of Prince William and Harry, was found dead by close family members at her home on July 14th.

An investigation from a coroner revealed Roche’s death stemmed from a “traumatic head injury.”

The coroner further reported that a firearm was located near Roche’s body.

Per Fox News:

Rosie Roche, a cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry, has died at the age of 20.

The granddaughter of the late Princess Diana’s uncle was “found deceased by close family members” on July 14 at her home in Wiltshire County, England, the Wiltshire and Swindon coroner confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Roche’s cause of death was a “traumatic head injury.” According to the coroner, a “firearm was located nearby.” The coroner’s office stated that “there are no suspicious circumstances or third-party involvement.”

According to the Times, Roche was found by her mother and sister at their home. The outlet reported that she had been packing for a vacation with her friends.

Roche was the granddaughter of Diana’s uncle, Edmund Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy. Edmund’s sister was the late princess’s mother, Frances Shand Kydd. Kydd shared five children, including Diana, with her first husband, John Spencer, Viscount Althorp.

Roche was connected to the British royal family through her grandfather, 5th Baron Fermoy, Edmund Roche, who was the uncle of Princess Diana.

Edmund Roche died of suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1984.

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Norwegian royal charged with rape; police say victim count in double digits

The eldest son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit and stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon, Marius Borg Høiby is facing charges of multiple counts of rape, sexual assault and bodily harm.

The charges come after a month-long investigation following Høiby’s multiple arrests in 2024. Oslo Police Attorney Andreas Kruszewski confirmed that the number of victims is in the “double-digits.”

Kruszewski said the charges include one case of rape with intercourse, two cases of rape without intercourse, four cases of sexual assault and two cases of bodily harm, the Associated Press reported. Kruszewski also reportedly said that 28-year-old Høiby was cooperative during police questioning.

The Oslo Police District put out a statement saying that they carried out a “thorough investigation”, with a “large number of witness interviews, several searches and a review of extensive digital material,” according to a BBC translation.

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Mohamed Al Fayed Paid Millions To Egyptian Spies Trying To Uncover the Truth About the Death of His Son Dodi and Princess Diana in Paris Car Crash

Lately, a lot has been published about the alleged sex crimes of late Harrods owner Mohamed Al-Fayed, accused of having raped, sexually abused or harassed hundreds of female employees.

But there’s another side to the billionaire Egyptian-born businessman: the bereaved father, desperately engaged in a quest for information about the death of his eldest son Dodi Al-Fayed and the ‘People’s Princess’ Diana in a Paris car crash in August 1997.

Now, a report shows that Al-Fayed paid Egyptian secret service agents millions for information about the death of Dodi and Diana.

He spent his last decade sending cash to Egyptian agents in London, expecting to obtain secret intelligence about the controversial crash.

The Telegraph reported:

“Sources say he hoped to receive confirmation from Egyptian secret service operatives of his belief that the British intelligence services had a hand in the fatal crash in the Alma tunnel.

Fayed had grown convinced that the British establishment feared the idea of Dodi, an Egyptian, as a possible stepfather to the future king.

At one stage, he told an Egyptian secret service agent that he knew the British intelligence services had killed the pair because they feared the possibility of the couple having a child who would be ‘a Muslim brother to the future king’.”

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