THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Duke of York has been engulfed in a new “cash-for-favours” row after a close friend paid off £50,000 of his ex-wife’s debts.David Rowland, a financier once described as “shady” in Parliament, gave the sum to the Duchess of York’s former press spokesman Kate Waddington, whom the Duchess owed in the region of £85,000.
In 2009, the Duke opened Mr Rowland’s bank in Luxembourg in his official capacity as Britain’s special representative for international trade and investment, despite the fact that the one-day visit was not officially sanctioned by the Government department in charge of promoting British business abroad.
While the vast majority of the Duke’s overseas visits are funded by UK Trade & Investment, Buckingham Palace admitted that the Duke had paid for the trip to Luxembourg to open Banque Havilland personally.
The disclosure that Mr Rowland has paid off a large part of what the Duchess owed Miss Waddington will add to concerns that the Duke is abusing his position for his own personal benefit. >>> Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Saturday, March 12, 2011
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