Princess Beatrice, the daughter of Prince Andrew, has said she was "blindsided" as it became known that an alleged fraudster provided a £750,000 "wedding gift" (over $983,000) for her back in 2020, the Daily Mail reported. Citing a friend of the princess, the report noted she "knew nothing about this" and was utterly shocked.
Documents from a complex fraud case, published last week suggested that businessman Selman Turk transferred the gift to the Coutts bank account of Prince Andrew ahead of the ceremony. At the same time, Beatrice's sister Eugenie was paid £25,000 ($32,000) while their mother Sarah Ferguson, received £225,000 ($295,000) from him for work that she had carried out for a US firm called Pegasus Group Holdings.
As for the Duke of York, he received a separate sum of £350,000 ($393,000) the report claims.
Turk, who is an ex-Goldman Sachs banker, is being sued by Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, a millionairess from Turkey who said the businessman helped manage her financial affairs. Isbilen stated that Turk had been "dishonestly and systematically" abusing her trust and accused Turk of stealing £40 million from her. This sum includes £750,000: according to Isbilen, who fled from Turkey to Britain after her husband was arrested in 2015, Turk falsely told her the payment was meant for Prince Andrew, so he would help her obtain a new passport.
The Duke of York has now returned the £750,000 to the millionaire, and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by him or his daughter, reports have stressed.