Prince Andrew link to second alleged ‘predator’ Peter Nygard

Prince Andrew faces more scrutiny over allegations against a fashion tycoon at whose Caribbean mansion he stayed.

Nygard Cay, Peter Nygard’s Bahamas estate. Picture: privateislandsonline.com

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, faces renewed scrutiny over his judgment after a fashion tycoon at whose Caribbean mansion he stayed was accused of luring girls as young as 14 to the property, where they were drugged and raped.

The allegations against Canadian Peter Nygard are strikingly similar to those against the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, a friend of the duke, which led to Prince Andrew stepping back from his royal duties.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman declined on Friday to comment about the legal claim against Mr Nygard or the duke’s relationship with him.

Mr Nygard could not be contacted for comment but his spokesman told the New York Post that the allegations were “completely false, without foundation and are vigorously denied”. The spokesman added: “Peter Nygard looks forward to fully exposing this scam and once and for all clearing his name.”

Canadian fashion empire founder Peter Nygard. Source: Nygard company website

Mr Nygard, 77, and his companies have been accused in a civil claim brought by 10 women of operating a “sex-trafficking ring” to transport young victims to his mansion in the Bahamas where they endured depraved abuse.

Andrew, 59, visited the mansion with his former wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, in the northern summer of 2000 shortly after Mr Nygard had settled cases of sexual harassment against three women out of court in Canada.

The tycoon has also been photographed with the duke’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

Although there is no suggestion that Andrew was involved in any impropriety, his decision to maintain contact with Mr Nygard will draw comparisons with his continuing relationship with Epstein after the financier was jailed in 2008 for procuring an under-age girl for prostitution in Florida.

Epstein killed himself in prison last August, aged 66, after being charged with new offences, and the duke withdrew from royal duties following a disastrous television interview.

Andrew was accused by US prosecutors last month of providing “zero” co-operation regarding the investigation into Epstein.

Prince Andrew arrives to attend a church service in England in January. Picture: AFP

A 99-page legal complaint filed against Mr Nygard in New York claims that his mansion in the Bahamas was used to promote his clothing brand with parties attended by celebrities and politicians including Oprah Winfrey, President George HW Bush, Robert De Niro and Sean Connery.

The Canadian tycoon is also accused of organising “pamper parties” to which “impressionable and often impoverished children and women” where lured to the Bahamas between 2008 and 2015 with cash and fake promises of modelling opportunities.

Victims of the sex-trafficking scheme were violently assaulted, with one of Mr Nygard’s proclivities being coprophilia (pleasure derived from excrement), the legal suit adds.

Mr Nygard is also accused of keeping three to four full-time sex workers with him at all times. They are allegedly forced to accompany him on tours around the world on his company’s private jet, including to London, New York, Germany and China.

In June 2011 a 14-year-old girl who had entered the Miss Teen Bahamas Galaxy beauty pageant claimed that she was invited with her mother to attend one of the “pamper parties” at the Mayan-themed estate.

She claimed she was drugged and raped by Mr Nygard at one of the parties but continued to attend the events and eventually became an international model for his clothing brand.

Mr Nygard is also accused of bribing politicians and police officers on the Bahamas.

The Times