DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Andrew’s shady deals shame the royal brand 

There is a decadence and unblushing venality about Prince Andrew’s lifestyle which belongs far more to the 1920s than the 2020s.

In that age of excess but also of deference, royals were able to behave badly, safe in the knowledge that their indiscretions would be swept under the carpet.

Not any more. In these days of 24-hour news and voracious social media, there’s no hiding place.

As the monarchy strives for relevance in the 21st Century, the Duke of York’s highly public involvement in a seemingly endless string of financial and sex scandals keeps dragging the institution backwards.

The latest is his acceptance of £1.1million from Turkish banker and alleged fraudster Selman Turk – just days after Mr Turk received a business award in Andrew’s Dragons’ Den-style competition at St James’s Palace.

The duke’s private secretary Amanda Thirsk believed the money was a ‘gift’ towards his daughter Princess Beatrice’s wedding. 

In separate transactions, his ex-wife Sarah received a further £225,000 and his younger daughter Eugenie £25,000.

But in the High Court it was alleged the money had been taken under false pretences from the account of one of Mr Turk’s wealthy clients, Nebahat Isbilen, who thought she was paying for Andrew’s help in obtaining a passport.

The prince has since repaid £750,000, with £350,000 outstanding.

Predictably, requests for clarification of this murky affair have been met with a wall of silence. But the public surely has a right to know if the Queen’s son is involved in inappropriate financial dealings.

He may be only ninth in line to the throne but he enjoys a life of grand royal luxury.

His home is the Royal Lodge at Windsor, his daughters carry the title HRH and his ex-wife – herself no stranger to disgrace –remains a royal duchess.

Why did Andrew accept this money? Did he pay tax on it? What did Mr Turk want in return? Why has he made only partial repayment? These are questions that scream out for answers.

From shadowy Kazakh oligarch Timur Kulibayev, who mysteriously paid £3million above the asking price for the Duke’s home at Sunninghill Park, to paedophile sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew’s associations have been catastrophic for the family’s reputation.

His sins have rightly seen him cast to the margins of royal life. Yet as he escorted his mother to Prince Philip’s memorial service on Tuesday, there was speculation he might be rehabilitated.

This fresh imbroglio shows exactly why that cannot happen. The Prince is arrogant, hubristic and irredeemably avaricious. As long as he has any part in public life, the royal brand is deeply tarnished.

Women fight back

Marching boldly in where pusillanimous politicians fear to tread, the Mail salutes Maya Forstater and women’s rights campaign groups for facing down the trans lobby in its bid to deny their sex.

In sport, shop changing rooms, public toilets and jails, women’s rights and privacy are being cancelled. 

The political class pretends it’s a fringe issue. They’re wrong. It appals millions of ordinary people.

By warning that they and their supporters won’t vote for anyone who fails to acknowledge ‘women’s sex-based rights’, the groups have thrown down the gauntlet. Boris Johnson ignores them at his peril.

Our Ukraine appeal hit a staggering £10.4million yesterday – a truly towering achievement. Your latest grant is £338,000 to Refugees at Home, a charity matching evacuees with British households offering accommodation. Now let’s see the Home Office show the same sense of urgency and compassion as our incredible readers in getting the vulnerable to safety.