Prince Andrew has been reported to police and accused of using a false name to register a company.
The Duke of York, 64, used the pseudonym ‘Andrew Inverness’ when in 2002 he set up business Naples Gold Limited with sports retail tycoon Johan Eliasch.
Now Graham Smith, the chief executive of Republic, an anti-monarchy campaign group, has submitted a complaint to Scotland Yard to accuse the prince of using false information in documents filed to Companies House.
The Metropolitan Police is currently assessing the report to determine whether any further action is required.
Mr Smith told The Telegraph that Andrew ‘must be held to the highest standards’ and ‘the royals appear to believe they can act with impunity’.
Andrew has used the pseudonym for four companies registered at Companies House.
It is thought to have derived from one of his less well-known titles, the Earl of Inverness, which was given to him by Elizabeth II in 1986 when he married Sarah Ferguson.
Mr Smith said: ‘The apparent filing of false information with Companies House may seem trivial, but the UK faces serious issues of fraud committed in this way. While no such fraud is alleged here, surely Andrew must be held to the highest standards.’
MailOnline has contacted the Duke of York for comment.
Prince Andrew (pictured at King Charles’ coronation in May, 2022) has been reported to police and accused of using a false name to register a company
The Duke of York, 64, used the pseudonym ‘Andrew Inverness’ when in 2002 he set up business Naples Gold Limited with sports retail tycoon Johan Eliasch (pictured together at Royal Ascot in 2019)
Prince Andrew attends the Endurance event on day three of the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Windsor Great Park on May 12, 2017
On Sunday it emerged that the firm managing Andrew’s private investments had shut down.
Urramoor limited, which Andrew had ‘significant control over’, has applied to be struck off and dissolved, documents filed to Companies House last week show.
It comes just a year after the investment company was bailed out by a mystery donor.
Urramoor somehow secured £210,000 worth of funding in the form of non-redeemable shares in December 2023, documents filed at the time revealed.
The company was £208,000 in the red before it received the cash from an anonymous source.
Prince Andrew initially up the investment fund under the name HRH Andrew Inverness in 2013.
It was established around 18 months after his trade envoy role was taken off him due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein.
But the company failed to make any profit in the nine sets of accounts it filed since its creation.
The decision to shut Urramoor down was signed by the company’s director Arthur Lancaster on January 3.
The news comes just days after it was revealed that more than £230,000 had been pulled from Prince Andrew’s Dragon’s Den-style initiative Pitch@Palace – which is also run by Mr Lancaster.
Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, the home of Prince Andrew The Duke of York
It comes after it emerged the firm managing Andrew’s private investments, Urramoor limited, had applied to be struck off and dissolved
The Duke of York speaks during a Pitch@Palace event – the scheme was set up to support entrepreneurs
During the financial year up until March 31, 2024, the amount of cash at hand and in the bank at the firm decreased by half, from £454,979 to £220,990.
The accounts, which were filed to Companies House on December 30, show the withdrawal was signed by Mr Lancaster, on behalf of the board.
However, mystery surrounds what the money has been used for or to whom it has been paid.
It comes amid concerns about the future of the Duke of York’s Pitch@Palace scheme after it emerged that a former boss at the company was an alleged spy.
Yang Tengbo, 50, was appointed founder of the programme’s enterprise in China and has been described as a ‘close confidante’ of the Duke of York.
Mr Yang is suspected by the security services of being associated with the United Front Work Department [UFWD] – the secretive arm of the Chinese government that organises Beijing’s cultural influences overseas.
He was first stopped from entering the UK under counter-terror laws in 2021 and his devices were seized, with documents retrieved later revealing his links to Andrew.
He was taken off a flight to London in 2023, with the then-home secretary Suella Braverman upholding the decision to cancel his residency rights in March of that year because it would be ‘conducive to the public good.’
Mr Yang has said allegations he is a spy are ‘ill-founded’ and ‘entirely untrue’, adding: ‘The political climate has changed, and unfortunately, I have fallen victim to this.
‘When relations are good, and Chinese investment is sought, I am welcome in the UK. When relations sour, an anti-China stance is taken, and I am excluded.’
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk