Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's lavish spending as trade envoy exposed

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is once again under media scrutiny over his lavish spending of taxpayers money while working as the UK's trade envoy.

A new report has revealed that the former Duke of York  accumulated more than £2million in taxpayer-funded expenses during his last four years serving as the trade envoy.

GB News reported that the  annual costs of King Charles's brother jumped by 15 per cent in a single year, climbing from £561,325 to £649,044 after he secured additional government funding.

The report said this increase came despite consultants having previously identified potential savings following a review he himself had commissioned in 2008.

Referring to  i Paper, GB News reported that the total expenditure was calculated at £2,172,122 by combining records from both royal travel accounts and the now-defunct UK Trade & Investment agency.

However, the actual sum is likely higher still, as royal accounts only recorded individual journeys exceeding £10,000.

The father of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie received no salary for the envoy position but had all travel and accommodation covered by public funds.

His most costly single journey totalled £194,951 for a 13-day expedition through central Asia and China in October 2008, according to the report.

It said flight expenses alone reached £121,810 for an 11-day tour encompassing Rome, Milan and Almaty in Kazakhstan.

A chartered aircraft carried him to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for just one day to co-chair the World Economic Forum, costing £55,269.

More than half of his 36 trips during this period exceeded £50,000 each, with 19 surpassing that threshold.

Visits to China alone accounted for nearly £400,000 across the four years.

The disgraced royal was stripped of his royal titles and expelled from Royal Lodge in Windsor over his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.