Saturday 19 November 2022 10:08 PM Prince Andrew held secret crisis talks with Fergie's toe-sucking ex-lover after ... trends now
Prince Andrew held secret crisis talks with his ex-wife's 'toe-sucking' lover following the disastrous Newsnight interview about his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Mail on Sunday can today reveal the astonishing story of how US businessman John Bryan – the man at the heart of Sarah Ferguson's 1992 scandal – gave the Duke 'honest advice' as his life fell apart following the bombshell broadcast in 2019.
In his first-ever interview, Mr Bryan, a respected financial adviser, revealed how he rallied behind the Yorks to offer strategic advice about restoring the Duke's shattered reputation and finances after he was forced to step away from royal duties.
Breaking three decades of silence, the 67-year-old told this newspaper how:
He was 'smuggled' into Andrew's home at Royal Lodge, Windsor, during a 'cloak-and-dagger' operation to conceal his identity; Furious Andrew 'ranted and raved' and shouted: 'I don't care any more' after the Queen banished him from the Royal Family; Distraught Princess Beatrice told her father: 'You've hurt our family'; A plan was hatched to turn Andrew's £18 million Swiss chalet into a private club charging members £1.2million a year for 'access to the Royals'; He and Fergie had a romantic relationship for four years in the 1990s and have remained friends for 30 years; The notorious toe-sucking story was a 'fabrication'.
Prince Andrew held secret crisis talks with his ex wife Sarah Ferguson's 'toe-sucking' lover following the disastrous Newsnight interview about his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Pictured: Mr Bryan and the Duchess of York in 1992
Mr Bryan gave the Duke 'honest advice' as his life fell apart following the bombshell broadcast in 2019 about his links to Epstein (pictured together in 2011)
In a world exclusive interview, the 67-year-old respected US financial adviser Mr Bryan has spoken after three decades of silence
Mr Bryan told how he was 'stunned' to be invited back into the Royal fold in November 2019 when Andrew was at his most vulnerable. 'Sarah asked me to come and help Andrew and the girls,' he said. Pictured: Andrew, Fergie and their children, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie
Mr Bryan exclusively revealed to The Mail On Sunday that he was 'smuggled' into Andrew's home in November, 2019. He also told the paper that him and Fergie (pictured together in 1992) were in a romantic relationship for four years during the 1990s
Mr Bryan said he remains convinced of the Duke's innocence but he believes Virginia Giuffre (pictured with Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell) may have met the Duke but wondered if she had been 'mistaken' in elements of her story
Mr Bryan, a respected financial adviser, believes that the notorious toe-sucking story was a 'fabrication'
Mr Bryan told how he was 'stunned' to be invited back into the Royal fold in November 2019 when Andrew was at his most vulnerable.
The Duke was reeling from the backlash from his 'car crash' interview with the BBC's Emily Maitlis and still faced hugely damaging accusations of having had sex with Virginia Roberts, now Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims, which the Duke has repeatedly and strenuously denied.
'Sarah asked me to come and help Andrew and the girls,' Mr Bryan said.
'I'd stayed friends with Sarah, but when everything was going down, when it was bad, she reached out to me and I was happy to help.'
Mr Bryan made plans with Sarah to visit Royal Lodge on Saturday, November 30, 2019 – just ten days after the Queen had suspended the Duke from his Royal duties and effectively banished him from the family.
'Andrew's television interview had been a catastrophe so they needed an honest strategic plan that everyone could buy into,' Mr Bryan said last night. 'Sarah and I were communicating a lot, I was saying, 'I hope you're OK' – the normal things you say to an ex.
Mr Bryan told how he was 'stunned' to be invited back into the Royal fold in November 2019 when Andrew was at his most vulnerable. The Duke was reeling from the backlash from his 'car crash' interview with the BBC's Emily Maitlis. Pictured: Andrew is interviewed on Newsnight
Mr Bryan made plans with Sarah to visit Royal Lodge on Saturday, November 30, 2019 – just ten days after the Queen had suspended the Duke from his Royal duties and effectively banished him from the family. Pictured: Andrew, Sarah Ferguson and their children Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie in 1997
Mr Bryan agreed to help the family draw up a 'long term strategy', which he dubbed 'House of Kroy' –turning around the word 'York'. At the heart of his blueprint was the need to persuade Andrew that he must display sympathy for Epstein's victims and show that he understood the magnitude of the paedophile's horrific crimes
By Graeme Culliford
It boasts seven bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, sauna, sun terrace, bar and opulent entertaining area.
But Chalet Helora, far from being a dream holiday home in one of Switzerland's most beautiful ski resorts, instead became a painful financial millstone for the Duke of York.
After taking out a whopping £13.25 million mortgage on the property, above, in 2014, Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson are believed to have still owed its former owner another £5 million in cash – which by 2019 they were struggling to pay.
Today John Bryan reveals that another adviser to the Yorks came up with a 'mad' plan to transform the chalet into a private members' club.
The adviser, an Iranian-born man with links to Azerbaijan, proposed charging wealthy clients £1.2 million a year – with the promise they could 'mingle with the Royals'.
The Yorks ultimately chose not to pursue the proposal. Mr Bryan said: 'The sad thing is that the Royal Family is made of 'haves' and 'have nots' as far as finances go. Some are very rich and others, like Prince Andrew, are always trying to find ways to make money.
Chalet Helora boasts seven bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, sauna, sun terrace, bar and opulent entertaining area
'Andrew said to me, 'Hey, why don't you include [the adviser] on one of your calls?' This guy was going on about turning the chalet into a super-exclusive private members' club. It was mad.
'I think Andrew and Sarah entertained the plan to placate him but it came to nothing.'
Chalet Helora was put on the market last year and is believed to have been sold earlier this year. When The Mail on Sunday visited on Friday, the property was unoccupied.
The Duke had not been to the luxury lodge for several years before it was sold but the Duchess and their two daughters spent the last New Year there.
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'She invited me to come over. She was desperate. She told me that Andrew was in terrible shape.
'He was distraught. They were distraught.
'She reached out to me because that's what I do. I reconstruct failed businesses, I reconstruct people, I rebuild families.
'It was intense because I had to get into their place and there were paparazzi everywhere.'
The Epstein sex abuse scandal was not the only pressure the family faced. In 2014 the Duke and Duchess had bought a luxury ski chalet in Verbier, Switzerland, for around £18 million from French socialite Isabelle de Rouvre. They took out a mortgage of £13.25 million, agreeing to pay the remaining £5 million in cash instalments, with interest.
By 2019, however, the couple were struggling to make the repayments and Mr Bryan revealed Fergie asked for help to get them out of their financial mire.
He caught a train to Woking station before taking a taxi to Coworth Park, the five-star hotel in Ascot where Prince Harry stayed the night before his wedding. He was met by one of Andrew's most trusted drivers in a luxury Range Rover with blacked-out windows who took him to Royal Lodge.
After entering the building via a 'secret entrance' to avoid press photographers, Mr Bryan was immediately embraced by Sarah.
'I walked into the house and there was Sarah. We hugged. It was really sweet. I think she cried and I did too. It was wonderful to see her again but she was under intolerable strain. We went outside and
