After learning that Prince Andrew’s ex-wife had purchased a £5 million Mayfair home, a French socialite and property owner who was owed millions by the Duke of York was incensed.
Isabelle de Rouvre, 74, consented to accept only half of the £6.8 million she was due from the 2014 sale of a Swiss chalet because she thought the Yorks were having financial difficulties.
The mother of four also stated that she thought Prince Andrew was “going to prison” and only wished for a resolution so she could put the matter behind her.
Although they paid Ms. de Rouvre £18 million for her chalet in Verbier, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife only gave her £13 million up front.
After the royals rented it from her in the early 2010s, Ms. de Rouvre sold it to them directly as opposed to putting it on the market.
By 2021, the family still owing £6.8 million for the final £5 million that was supposed to be paid in instalments with interest.
Before it was revealed that the Prince’s settlement with Virgina Guiffre, a woman who accused the Prince of sexually abusing her, may have been as low as £3 million, Ms. de Rouvre reportedly agreed to a settlement for just £3.4 million, in part because she thought both the Duke of York and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson were short on cash.
The Yorks’ new home is tucked away on a peaceful cobblestone lane where The Beatles dined there in the 1960s, and more recently, Prince Harry, Rihanna, and the cast of the reality show Made In Chelsea.
“I recognised they didn’t have the money and felt he would be going to jail in America so I considered it best to grab what I could,” the French socialite stated.
“I’m furious to learn that she spent millions on another property,” I said. The entire narrative is astounding, and it is simply incredible. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a dirty story.
However, it has since come to light that the Prince’s settlement to Virginia Guiffre, a victim of sex trafficking at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, may have only been £3 million.
This year, Ms. Guiffre and the Duke of York struck an out-of-court settlement that, after deducting her expenses and a gift to the charity of her choice, may total £12 million.
According to The Telegraph, Ms. de Rouvre said, “I assumed they didn’t have a penny.”
But Ms. Ferguson, who in 2010 claimed to be perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy, has just purchased a £5 million home in the heart of London, a short distance from Ghislaine Maxwell’s former home.
She has a history of financial difficulties; after Hartmoor, her US “lifestyle and health” company, failed, she lost more than £3.2 million.
She was also caught in a tabloid sting promising access to Prince Andrew for £500,000.
Although there are concerns about her ability to afford the home, insiders close to the 62-year-old report that since she started a writing career and obtained many book agreements, her financial situation improved.
The most recent example of this was a 22-book agreement that called for at least three young adult fiction books.
Virginia Roberts, now Giuffre, was introduced to Prince Andrew by paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2011, and she took £15,000 from him to help her avoid bankruptcy.
Her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, are thought to be investing in the two-flat home as a long-term strategy.
The two apartments, which come with a bijou terrace, bar, two reception rooms, and a parking garage, are being combined by the duchess into one house.
However, according to sources, she does not have any plans to vacate the 30-room Windsor castle that she and her disgraced ex-husband, Prince Andrew, currently reside in; rather, she intends to rent out the new home.
A spokeswoman for Prince Andrew said he had no involvement in the purchasing of the home.
According to reports, Fergie bought her new house from her pal, the Duke of Westminster, 31, who in 2016 inherited the Grosvenor real estate empire and his father’s £10 billion fortune, making him one of the richest individuals in Britain.
He is also close friends with Princes Harry and William.
The Duchess was reportedly observed examining the house in the late spring and was then seen slamming into a waiting car, according to people on the street.
They acknowledged that having yet another well-known neighbour made them pleased.
The new Mayfair apartment is “picturesque,” according to sources, and is located in “one of the very smartest locations of London,” they added.
“It had been converted from being a couple of flats to a single residence,” they continued.
“The girls are extraordinarily blessed if they are going to inherit it at some point.”
The best restaurants and bars in the city, as well as lovely parks and other hotspots, are only a short stroll away. But everyone believed they were completely penniless; only God knows where the money came from.
The Duke of York has listed the chalet in Switzerland for sale due to financial concerns, in part as a result of the expensive legal dispute and eventual settlement with Ms. Guiffre over her claims that she was a victim of sex trafficking and was made to have sex with the prince on three different occasions.
However, he has suffered numerous setbacks in his efforts to find a buyer after the chalet was repeatedly frozen as an asset as a result of his prior debts.
The prince’s chalet was once more frozen in June of this year when a couple claimed he owed them £1.6 million, prompting Ms de Rouvre to call him a “stupid.”
When she sold Chalet Helora in Verbier to Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 2014, she stated she felt bad for the couple, whose identity is being kept hidden, because she had to go through so much trouble trying to get the money back that was promised to her.
It was a terrible experience, she claimed. I don’t know how he conducts himself, and I am incredibly sorry for anybody who do business with him.
“It’s really rather unbelievable,” I said. He made my life so stressful, and now it’s being said that other individuals are owed money as well.
‘They’re so crazy,’ said Sarah and Andrew. Andrew is a complete fool, and I don’t know how he manages to live his life.
Miss de Rouvre’s friendship with Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, both of whom are in their 60s, has reportedly been “severely tarnished” by her assertive court action, according to a source close to her.
The source claimed that Isabelle “always loved having the Yorks stay in their chalet and was particularly fond of their two children.”
She was therefore overjoyed to learn that friends were purchasing the chalet, which has provided her with so many wonderful memories.
Sadly, the disagreement has destroyed everything. Isabelle is really upset that things have reached this point.