Ex-prince Andrew was ‘getting his passport prepared’ to go away UK earlier than arrest
Prince Andrew was reportedly preparing to leave the UK for the Middle East when he was arrested in February, with plans to relocate to Bahrain or Abu Dhabi allegedly in place
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor(Image: WireImage)
Disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was reportedly “getting his passport ready” to flee the UK for the Middle East when he was detained, according to reports today.
It’s claimed Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles and honours last year, was preparing to scarper to either Bahrain or Abu Dhabi hoping to reinvent himself when an urgent tip-off to a senior courtier resulted in his arrest in February.
The 66 year old has since been released under investigation but, with bombs and missiles raining down across the region daily, any remaining hopes of reinventing himself amongst the Arab elite appear to be in tatters. Now, Donald Trump is believed to be poised for his “big one” assault on Iran as the conflict there rages on, reports the Mirror..
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Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has her own connections in the Middle East and she, along with Andrew, was booted out of the Royal Lodge last year. A source revealed: “There is no way any of them are going to go to the Gulf and Middle East region for a long time to come. It is far too dangerous for them, just as it is for everybody else.”
It’s another setback for father-of-two Andrew, who it surfaced this week considers it “deeply unfair that people have turned on him” during the Jeffrey Epstein files controversy. The former duke, who operated as a helicopter pilot with the Royal Navy, emphatically refutes any misconduct.
A British diplomatic source who previously mingled with the Yorks in the Gulf, revealed to the Daily Mail: “It’s inconceivable that they’ll be visiting the region now, certainly not whilst the war is going on and it could, of course, be an indefinite war.”
Andrew had long acknowledged that the Middle East – with its billionaire sheikhs and emirs – could prove a profitable source of riches, both for himself and for those in his inner circle.
His connections to Abu Dhabi’s royal family stretch back to his period at Gordonstoun, the Scottish independent school, where he encountered Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, now the UAE’s president and known to Andrew as MBZ. His family ranks amongst the wealthiest globally, with an estimated fortune of £225 billion.
They also maintain a vast property portfolio in London and possess a majority stake in Manchester City Football Club.
Andrew’s relationships proved especially beneficial in 2001 when, following his retirement from the Royal Navy, he was named the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment – a position critics allege he subsequently exploited for personal financial gain. Andrew denies any wrongdoing.
