Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie face renewed public embarrassment as their father, Prince Andrew, is set to appear as a witness in a High Court fraud trial next month, just months after their names surfaced hundreds of times in the Epstein Files.
Beatrice, 38, and Eugenie, 36, were reportedly horrified to discover their names appeared hundreds of times in the millions of documents made public by US officials in January, known as the Epstein Files. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on their part, and their mother Sarah Ferguson and father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor similarly deny any impropriety.
The sisters were said to have been squirming as they read emails in which Fergie told convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein that Eugenie was away on a "sh****** weekend", or asked for free flights for herself and the girls to visit Epstein after he had completed his prison sentence for procuring a child for sex.
Andrew set to give evidence at High Court
On or around December 15, Andrew, 66, is due to appear as a witness in a fraud trial at the High Court after being served with a summons. The witness summons will see him giving evidence and taking questions in a case in which a wealthy woman alleges she was cheated by her former financial adviser.
Andrew is not accused of wrongdoing, but he could face difficult questions about his financial arrangements, as it is said he was in receipt of some disputed payments, including a transfer of £750,000, which was later returned. His court appearance will be the first public questioning he has faced since his BBC Newsnight interview in November 2019, and he is the first royal since the 19th Century to be sent such a witness summons.
Allegations in the case
The case will hear allegations made by Nebahat Isbilen, an elderly Turkish woman, who says her former adviser Selman Turk misled her and used her wealth to his own advantage. Turk has strongly denied dishonesty, and Andrew has been asked to give evidence over disputed questions about Turk's handling of Isbilen's money.
According to court documents, Isbilen claimed she was misled by Turk into paying £750,000 to Andrew, believing it was for help with a passport. Reports say Turk and Andrew's office subsequently informed Isbilen's bankers that the money was a "wedding gift" for Princess Beatrice, who married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020. The payment was eventually returned.
The transfer of money came the day after Andrew recorded the Newsnight interview, which was broadcast the following night, and was soon followed by him stepping down from royal duties.
Further claims and ongoing inquiries
Isbilen claims she placed £67 million in Turk's care altogether. That total reportedly included payments of £225,000 to Fergie and £25,000 to Princess Eugenie.
Turk met Andrew in autumn 2019 through the Pitch@Palace project, a Dragon's Den-style pitching event run by the former duke. That had led to social gatherings bringing together Turk and his family, Isbilen, and the then Duke and Duchess of York.
Turk's representatives, Janes Solicitors, said he denies the claims of dishonesty and looks forward to being vindicated in court. In February, he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, an investigation which remains ongoing. However, a ruling last month determined that the search warrants authorising those raids were unlawful.
Separately, Police Scotland have confirmed they are conducting "active inquiries" following reports linking Andrew and Epstein to Balmoral Castle, the Royal Family's private estate in the Scottish Highlands. Seeing their father make history by standing in the witness box at the High Court will be yet another embarrassment for the princesses, who may find their names dragged into the case unwittingly, potentially straining their relationship with their father further.
