The Queen is to pay Prince Andrew's £6.7million debt on a Verbier ski chalet after a French socialite threatened to drag the case through the courts, it is claimed.

Her Majesty will end the feud between the Duke and Duchess of York and Isabelle de Rouvre, who sold the Switzerland luxury chalet to them for £18million in 2014. 

But the socialite is now pursuing them in court, after alleging they did not pay the remaining £6.7million for Chalet Helora.

An insider told US magazine Air Mail that the Queen will pay the debt herself to avoid Prince Andrew being dragged through the courts in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 






The Queen is to pay Prince Andrew's £6.7million debt on a Verbier ski chalet after a French socialite threatened to drag the case through the courts, it is claimed. Pictured, the Duke of York leaving Chalet Helora

















An insider told US magazine Air Mail that the Queen will pay the debt to Isabelle de Rouvre (left) to avoid Prince Andrew being dragged through the courts


Madame de Rouvre became a friend of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, both now 60 years old, after getting to know them when they frequently rented the chalet.

The property boasted six full-time staff and was also said to be furnished with chic antiques, tử cấm thành featuring a large master bedroom draped in animal furs. 

Madame de Rouvre rented the seven-bedroom property for more than £22,000 a week, which is also said to have a 60square metre indoor swimming pool, a sauna and a bar. 

The 74-year-old decided to sell the chalet to the couple in 2014 rather than put it on the market with an agent, aware of their fondness for the home.






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But more than five years after they made a deal to deter a final payment of £6.7million until the end of 2019 and the debt has still not been paid. 

Speaking this month, Madame de Rouvre confirmed that she is taking action against the royal couple and said the 'case is really very difficult'.

'I am now charged with a lawyer,' she told the Mail. 'They have a lawyer and I have mine too. What you read in the newspapers is really the reality of the case.'  

But a spokesman for Andrew denied the Queen's involvement in the chalet debt last night, saying: 'The Queen will not be stepping in to settle the debt.' 






The seven-bedroom Chalet Helora (pictured) is said to have a 60square metre indoor swimming pool, a sauna and a bar. It boasted six full-time staff and is also said to be furnished with chic antiques







Madame de Rouvre confirmed that she is taking action against Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson and said the 'case is really very difficult'. Pictured, Prince Andrew on a skiing holiday in Verbier in 2007


The spokesman also said the chalet is on the market and the sale will settle any outstanding debts with the previous owner.

Air Mail also claimed that Andrew had gone to Jeffrey Epstein's New York home in 2010 to beg him to help his ex-wife out of debt.

She was said to owe a £3.2million bank overdraft, but it is not clear if Epstein ever agreed to pay the debt. 

But a source close to Fergie claimed that all of her debts were settled by the time Andrew visited New York. 

It was also claimed that Epstein made a £15,000 payment to cover a debt to Fergie's assistant.

Prince Andrew has been put under increasing pressure to co-operate with FBI investigations into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Virginia Roberts alleges she was coerced by paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein into having sex with Andrew in London when she was 17, one of three occasions she claims she was intimate with him.

The Duke of York has strongly denied having any sexual contact with Ms Roberts.



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