Prince Andrew arranged a private tour of Buckingham Palace while the late Queen was in residence, for businessmen from a cryptocurrency mining firm which agreed to pay his ex-wife up to £1.4 million, the BBC can reveal.
Jay Bloom and his colleague Michael Evers were driven through the palace gates in the former prince's own car after being collected from their five-star Knightsbridge hotel for the visit in June 2019.
Their company, Pegasus Group Holdings, which Bloom co-founded, employed Sarah Ferguson as a 'brand ambassador' for a crypto-mining scheme which would lose investors millions when it failed less than a year later.
Both Mr Evers and Mr Bloom were invited by Andrew to his Pitch@Palace event at nearby St James's Palace later that day, and dined with Andrew, Ferguson, and their daughter Princess Beatrice.
Ms Ferguson was working with Pegasus during the palace visit, promoting plans to use solar generators to mine Bitcoin in Arizona. However, the project failed to materialize, obtaining only 615 of the planned 16,000 generators and generating a meager $33,779 in cryptocurrency.
Legal action was taken by investors in April 2021, alleging mismanagement of their funds, leading to a tribunal award of $4.1 million. Andrew and Ferguson face increasing scrutiny over their financial dealings and potential misuse of royal connections for personal benefit.
Buckingham Palace announced it was stripping Andrew of his royal titles amidst growing public outrage following his associations with known criminals.
The growing questions surrounding Andrew and Ferguson's business ventures raise concerns regarding their financial practices and accountability, with both parties declining to address inquiries about their involvement with the failing company.
