Prince Andrew has been reported to the police and accused of using a false name to register a company.
The Duke of York, 64, used the pseudonym ‘Andrew Inverness’ when he founded Naples Gold Limited in 2002 with sports retail magnate Johan Eliasch.
Now Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, an anti-monarchy campaign group, has lodged a complaint with Scotland Yard accusing the prince of using false information in documents lodged with Companies House.
The Metropolitan Police is currently assessing the report to determine if any further action is required.
Mr. Smith said The telegraph that Andrew “must be held to the highest standards” and “the royals seem to believe they can act with impunity.”
Andrew has used the pseudonym for four companies registered with Companies House.
It is believed to derive from one of his lesser-known titles, that of Earl of Inverness, given to him by Elizabeth II in 1986 when he married Sarah Ferguson.
Mr Smith said: ‘The apparent submission of false information to Companies House may seem trivial, but the UK faces serious problems with fraud committed in this way. While no such fraud is alleged here, Andrew must surely 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 the police and accused of using a false name to register a company.
The Duke of York, 64, used the pseudonym ‘Andrew Inverness’ when he founded Naples Gold Limited in 2002 with sports retail magnate 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 company that managed Andrew’s private investments had closed.
Urramoor Limited, over which Andrew had “significant control”, has applied for its cancellation and dissolution, documents filed with Companies House last week show.
It comes just a year after the investment firm was bailed out by a mystery donor.
Urramoor somehow secured £210,000 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 receiving the cash from an anonymous source.
Prince Andrew initially created the investment fund under the name HRH Andrew Inverness in 2013.
It was established about 18 months after he was stripped of his trade envoy role due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein.
But the company has made no profit in the nine sets of accounts it has filed since its inception.
The decision to close Urramoor was signed by company director Arthur Lancaster on January 3.
The news comes just days after it was revealed that more than £230,000 had been withdrawn from Prince Andrew’s Dragon’s Den-style Pitch@Palace initiative, which is also run by Mr Lancaster.
Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, the home of Prince Andrew, Duke of York
It comes after it emerged that the company managing Andrew’s private investments, Urramoor Limited, had filed for cancellation and dissolution.
The Duke of York speaks during a Pitch@Palace event: the scheme was created to support entrepreneurs
During the financial year to March 31, 2024, the company’s amount of cash on hand and in the bank decreased by half, from £454,979 to £220,990.
The accounts, which were filed with Companies House on December 30, show the withdrawal was signed by Lancaster, on behalf of the board.
However, mystery surrounds what the money was used for or who it was paid to.
It comes amid concerns over the future of the Duke of York’s Pitch@Palace scheme after it emerged that a former boss of the company was an alleged spy.
Yang Tengbo, 50, was named founder of the show’s venture in China and has been described as a “close confidant” of the Duke of York.
Security services suspect Yang of being associated with the United Front Work Department (UFWD), the secret arm of the Chinese government that organizes Beijing’s cultural influences abroad.
He was first prevented from entering the UK under anti-terrorism laws in 2021 and his devices were seized, with documents later recovered revealing his links to Andrew.
He was removed from a flight to London in 2023, and then Home Secretary Suella Braverman confirmed 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 that accusations that he is a spy are “ill-founded” and “completely false”, adding: “The political climate has changed and, unfortunately, I have been a victim of this.”
‘When relations are good and Chinese investment is sought, I am welcome in the UK. When relations deteriorate, an anti-China stance is adopted and I am excluded.”