Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor “pushed through” the appointment of Jeffrey Epstein’s fixer to the board of a Windsor Castle trust, despite board members’ opposition, it has been claimed.
David Stern, who served as a close confidant to the paedophile financier and the former prince, was appointed to the board of the St George’s House Trust in 2016 amid disquiet from members who raised questions about his background.
“There was unhappiness about the fact that this man was being imposed upon the board by Prince Andrew, and there was the feeling that we shouldn’t accept him,” one former board member told The Times.
“Several members of the board objected to Stern’s candidacy but it was pushed through because Prince Andrew wanted him there.”
The charity was founded in 1966 by Andrew’s father, the Duke of Edinburgh, as a forum for prominent people from various walks of life to come together and discuss privately matters of national and international importance. It is based within the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Current board members include business leaders, the heads of charities and universities and the Dean of Windsor. Princess Anne also sits on the council as a representative of the Knights of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
The trust is based in the grounds of Windsor Castle
SAMIR HUSSEOM/GETTY IMAGES
Emails released this month by the US justice department indicate that Stern, a German national who speaks fluent Mandarin, was in regular correspondence with Epstein, whom he described as “my boss”, about investment opportunities around the world.
The pair also appear to have exchanged multiple emails about women, with Stern providing Epstein with what he terms “P rating” from countries he was visiting. In a 2009 email he described his time in Odesa, Ukraine, as having a “P factor 9/10 with extra 0.5 dirt bonus”. Epstein responded, telling him to “use your phone camera please”.
Epstein appears to have introduced Stern to Andrew and his wife Sarah Ferguson in 2009 and soon became a trusted confidant to the pair. Documents appear to show that he joined the former prince on business trips to China and Southeast Asia during his time as envoy.
He later served as a director of Andrew’s Pitch@Palace startup business between 2017 and 2019.
In November 2016 Stern was put forward to join the board of the St George’s House Trust. Sources told The Times that several board members spoke against the nomination as it was understood that Stern was being “imposed” upon the board by Andrew.
Among those who objected was Sir Claude Hankes, the only life member of the trust’s council, who commissioned the law firm Joseph Hage Aaronson and Bremen to give its view on Stern’s candidacy on the basis of information that he had submitted to the nomination committee, made up of three board members.
The resulting memo highlighted a number of unanswered questions about Stern’s background and asked why he had desired “privacy” because of his family background.
Dr Christopher Cocksworth, pictured with King Charles, is a member of the trust
MAX MUMBY/INDIGO/GETTY IMAGES
The memo also noted that the risk attached to not carrying out proper due diligence on prospective board members included damage to the finances and reputation of the trust and its members “if a donor or board member exploits the credibility and connections gained from their position in relation to St George’s House or its patrons”.
The memo was circulated among the board. However, in December, Dr Hueston Finlay, the then warden of the trust, wrote to members to say that Stern’s application had already been accepted by the nomination committee.
“I do not share Sir Claude’s concerns,” Finlay wrote, adding that Hankes’s memo had “raised no new material information in this matter.” He said that each of the nomination committee had had a chance to speak to Stern and had been “impressed” by his application.
Hankes’s suspicions had also been raised by the fact, he said, that Stern had claimed to be a “contact of the Queen”, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Stern served on the board of the trust until 2022.
Neither the St George’s House Trust, Stern nor Andrew responded to a request for comment.
‘Wisdom nurtured through dialogue’: What is the trust?
St George’s House was founded in 1966 by The Duke of Edinburgh and Robin Woods, the then Dean of Windsor. Their intention was to draw together prominent members of society who might not otherwise have encountered one another to advance moral, religious and social understanding.
“Then, as now, it was hoped that the wisdom nurtured through dialogue could be put to use for the good of our society,” the trust’s website states.
The diverse make-up of the board includes Richard Collier-Keywood, the chairman of the Welsh Rugby Union, Louis Elson, the managing partner of the private equity firm Palamon, and Carol Mack, the chief executive of the Association of Charitable Foundations. The current Dean of Windsor, Dr Christopher Cocksworth, also is a board member.
The house is situated on Denton’s Commons and forms part of the 14th-century foundations of the College of St George in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The College, which was founded by Edward III, is the spiritual home of the Order of the Garter. To this day, a Knight of the Order of the Garter sits on the council of the trust. This is currently Princess Anne.