London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Prince Andrew aide ‘said disputed £750k payment was for daughter’s wedding’

Prince Andrew aide ‘said disputed £750k payment was for daughter’s wedding’

Report follows Turkish millionaire’s claim in high court that her financial adviser said cash was for help with passport application
One of the Duke of York’s senior aides told bankers that a now disputed cash payment to the prince was for his daughter Princess Beatrice’s wedding, it has been reported.

In 2019, Andrew received £750,000 from Nebahat Isbilen, a Turkish millionaire and wife of a former leading politician, who has claimed in the high court that she was told by her financial adviser Selman Turk to pay the sum to the prince in return for assistance with a passport application. It was later claimed in court documents that this was a false representation.

Isbilen is now suing Turk in the high court, alleging that he defrauded her.

Andrew offered no explanation on Friday as to why the money originally entered his bank account and why he paid it back in full after being approached by Isbilen’s lawyers 16 months after it was received.

The Daily Mail has obtained a transcript of a phone call on 14 November 2019 between Andrew’s former aide Amanda Thirsk and bankers acting for Isbilen.

In the call, the bankers queried the purpose of the £750,000 transfer from Isbilen’s account to the duke’s personal account at Coutts, and Thirsk, who was a senior member of the royal household at the time but no longer works there, said: “It’s a gift for the wedding, a wedding gift.”

Responding to the latest reports, a spokesperson for Andrew said they could not comment while legal proceedings were ongoing.

Isbilen had claimed that she had been told by Turk that the payment was for the prince’s assistance with a passport application, although it was later claimed this was a false representation.

An affidavit by Isbilen that has been seen by the Guardian states that she later saw an email from Turk to her bank claiming the transfer was a “wedding gift to Princess Beatrice owing to the close connection between our families”.

She adds: “This email is entirely false.”

Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a private ceremony in Windsor in July 2020.

Turk was the founder and chief executive of Heyman AI, a digital challenger bank which, nine days before the £750,000 payment was made, received an award in person from Andrew at a Pitch@Palace event – a Dragons’ Den-style project for entrepreneurs created by the prince.

On Friday it emerged that Beatrice’s mother and Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, also received payments of at least £225,000 from Turk via Alphabet Capital, said to be in connection with payment she was owed for her work with a solar power company.

Ferguson’s spokesperson said: “The duchess was completely unaware of the allegations that have since emerged against Mr Turk. She is naturally concerned by what has been alleged against him.”

A spokesperson for Andrew said: “We are unable to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”

The Guardian has approached Turk for comment.

The reports come after the prince settled a sexual assault case filed against him by Virginia Giuffre for an undisclosed sum, reported to be as much as £12m. The out-of-court settlement in the US civil case meant the prince made no admission of guilt over claims by Giuffre that he sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17, allegations he has repeatedly denied.

On Tuesday, Andrew made his first public appearance since the settlement, alongside his mother, the Queen, at a memorial service for his father, Prince Philip.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×