PRINCE ANDREW ‘FURIOUS’ FOLLOWING TIMES TRADE ENVOY ATTACK

Princess Eugenie’s 2009 Cambodian holiday said to be a factor

Once again, News International reporters may have overstepped the mark, following the publication yesterday of a devastating article in the Times on the subject of Prince Andrew’s alleged shortcomings as a trade envoy. The piece, by Valentine Low and Michael Savage, asserted that Prince Andrew could soon be stripped of his trade envoy duties by David Cameron.

The criticisms of the Duke of York put Prime Minister David Cameron in something of a spot. As both an enthusiastic Royalist and Newscorp defender, it’s difficult to see where he can go on this one. But Downing Street later dismissed the Times suggestion as ‘a fantasy’.

Those close to the case are seeing the article as another round in what has become a bruising boxing match between the Yorks and News International. It is widely accepted in royal circles that Andrew’s oft-repeated reference to “journalists poking about” is a direct jibe at the Murdoch tabloids.

The Slog spoke yesterday afternoon with a longstanding foreign trade contact. This was his response:

“The idea that a Royal trade envoy can do his job properly and not meet people like [those referred to in the Times article] is just the sort of hypocritical crap in which tabloids specialise. Having seen him in action at close quarters, my personal take on the Duke [of York] is that he does an amazing job and, like his father, is an undiluted patriot. I really don’t care if he’s bisexual, has a thing for teenage girls, or is blue with pink spots…..he does a great job for Britain because, when it comes to other cultures, he makes deals – not judgements”.

Royal watchers assert that Princess Eugenie’s 2009 Cambodian holiday may be at the heart of this feud. On May 4th 2009, the Murdoch-owned Sun newspaper reported that Eugenie and her travelling companion had been mugged during a gap-year in Cambodia. The red-top stalked Eugenie throughout her holiday, hamming up the mugging story – although it was Eugenie’s companion, not her, who had been attacked. (Not long before this, The Murdoch press had been grumbling about how much Royal security cost).

But there are royal suspicions surrounding a follow-up story – again by The Sun – which scooped other titles by categorically asserting that Eugenie would continue her holiday unabashed. The story was then passed to Valentine Low, who ran it the following day in The Times. There is no suggestion that Mr Low knew the source of the story beyond his uglier-sister newspaper, but sources close to the Yorks are convinced that Eugenie’s mobile phone was hacked to obtain the  information.

The editor of The Sun at the time was Rebekah Brooks.

Three months later, she handed over as editor to Dominic Mohan. Seven years earlier, Mohan was cracking gags about phone-hacking at an industry awards dinner.