10 Mar 2011

Prince Andrew row intensifies

On Monday, as a storm of bad publicity raged around him, UK Prince Andrew lobbied an MP to help boost British business with Azerbaijan, the central Asian autocracy accused of torturing protesters, it has emerged.

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Despite growing concern over his willingness to establish business links with foreign dictatorships from the Middle East to central Asia, the Duke of York met Mark Field, Tory MP for Cities of London and Westminster and chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Azerbaijan, at Buckingham Palace and asked for support in parliament and Whitehall for British investment in Azerbaijan.

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Prince Andrew has met the Queen to discuss his links with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to Sky sources.

US billionaire Epstein was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Sky News understands that the Queen and Duke of York met recently and part of that discussion was to deal with the negative issues that are surrounding the Duke. There is no suggestion at the moment that it was an extraordinary meeting. Prince Andrew has known Epstein since the early 1990s and met as recently as December in New York. (SKY News)

WikiLeaks cables: 'Rude' Prince Andrew shocks US ambassador