Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor charged taxpayers for massages and excessive travel costs while working as the UK's trade envoy, whistleblowing retired civil servants have claimed.
One former civil servant, who worked in the UK's trade department in the early 2000s, had been so annoyed by Andrew's request to cover the cost of "massage services" that he'd refused to pay it, but says he was overruled by senior staff.
"I thought it was wrong… I'd said we mustn't pay it, but we ended up paying it anyway," he told the BBC, about a claim that followed a visit by Andrew to the Middle East.
The Department for Business and Trade has not challenged the claim about Andrew's time as envoy, between 2001 and 2011, but has referred to the ongoing police investigation into the former prince.
The BBC approached Andrew for a response to these claims. He has always rejected any wrongdoing in his associations with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and denied any personal gain from his role as trade envoy.
Andrew's role as trade representative was unpaid, but he had the support of civil servants and taxpayer funding for his overseas trips.
In the wake of the revelations in the Epstein files, the former civil servant, who worked for the former UK Trade and Investment department, says he regrets that Andrew was allowed to get away with expenses for a massage, when it might have been a chance to check his behaviour.
"I can't say it would have stopped him, but we should have flagged that something was wrong," says the retired civil servant.
Another source, a former senior Whitehall official, backs up the claim. This former civil servant, who oversaw finances in this area, had seen similar expenses for Andrew's trips and says he has "absolutely no doubt" about its authenticity.
Both of the former civil servants wanted to remain anonymous, but have separately spoken to the BBC about their claims. The BBC has not seen proof of the claim about charging for massages from over 20 years ago. But the BBC has seen documentary evidence of the whistleblowers' closeness to this area at the time.
Source: Drudge Report
