Prince Andrew has gone into business with a disgraced former Coutts banker who quit over allegations of sexual harassment
The Duke of York has set up a company with Harry Keogh, who departed the Queen’s bank in 2018 after he was accused of touching a female colleague inappropriately – and boasting about his sexual exploits.
The prince has previously faced questions over his close ties with late billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was convicted of numerous sexual offences, and refused to be interviewed by the FBI about their relationship.
According to The Times, the new venture will be a vehicle for Andrew’s family investments, and is named Lincelles – after the 18th-century battle against the French, in which the British were commanded by the Duke of York.
It has been structured as an unlimited company, meaning it does not have to file accounts with Companies House – and can avoid disclosing its profits or income. Andrew controls 75 per cent of the business through the Urramoor Trust, and Keogh is listed as a fellow controller.
A source close to Prince Andrew told The Times yesterday that Keogh is a “friend and adviser to the duke”, describing him as “the duke’s private banker for some 20 years”.
Keogh was accused of touching a woman’s groin while demonstrating the site of an injury when he worked at Coutts; his behaviour was reportedly so toxic that some female employees refused to work with him.
The highly-exclusive bank carried out an investigation in 2015, and the chief executive recommended that Keogh leave, according to The Wall Street Journal. It was decided he should stay, but he was disciplined and ultimately resigned in March 2018.
The source close to Prince Andrew said the allegations against Keogh – which he denied – “don’t appear to have been subject to any investigation by law enforcement or independent third parties and nor have they been tested by due process in a court of law”.
Keogh was a guest at the wedding of Princess Eugenie, Andrew’s daughter, in October 2018.
Lincelles was formed in June last year – seven months after the duke’s car crash BBC interview about his links to Epstein, who committed suicide in a New York jail in 2019, while he awaited trial for a number of sexual offences.
Andrew has been accused of having sex with Virginia Giuffre when she was 17 at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British heiress accused of trafficking girls for Epstein, which he denies.
A spokesman for Prince Andrew said: “The Duke of York’s private office established the Urramoor Trust, which owns both Lincelles Unlimited and Urramoor Limited, a private limited company, which files public accounts.
“The trust, of which the Duke of York is settlor but not a beneficiary, has independent trustees. The duke is not an owner of either Lincelles or Urramoor Limited as a matter of fact and law. Lincelles Unlimited has never been operational, has not received any funds or paid any moneys out.”