Andrew fixed palace visit for firm with £1.4m deal with ex-wife
While the late Queen was in residence, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor arranged a private tour of Buckingham Palace for businessmen from a cryptocurrency mining company that agreed to pay his ex-wife up to £1. 4m, the BBC can reveal. After being collected from their five-star Knightsbridge hotel for the visit in June 2019, Jay Bloom and his colleague Michael Evers were chauffeured through the palace gates in the former prince's own vehicle. Pegasus Group Holdings, Mr Bloom's co-founded business, sent Sarah Ferguson as a brand ambassador
for a crypto-mining scheme that would cost investors millions if it didn't happen less than a year later. Mr Bloom, an entrepreneur who had earlier opened a failed Mafia-themed museum in Las Vegas, and Mr Evers, a former actor, were welcomed by a greeter and led inside the palace.
Mr Evers told the BBC that they later met the Queen, but Mr Bloom denied this. Both Mr Evers and Mr Bloom were invited by the then-prince to his Pitch@Palace event, a Dragons' Den-style business pitching competition, at nearby St James' Palace later that day, and they dined that evening with Andrew, Ms Ferguson and their daughter Princess Beatrice. At the time of the palace visit, Ms Ferguson was visiting Pegasus Group Holdings to promote efforts to mine Bitcoin at a remote location in the Arizona desert. However, the scheme ended prematurely, with only 615 of the planned 16,000 generators purchased and just $33,779 (about £25,000) in cryptocurrency mined. Any investors took court action in April 2021, claiming that millions of dollars in investor funds were missing. A tribunal awarded the investors $4. Mr Bloom is requesting permission to appeal at 1 p. M. , but Mr Bloom wants to appeal. The revelations contribute to growing concerns about how Andrew and his former wives have financed their lifestyle, as well as long-running questions about their company relationships and that the then-prince may have used his royal titles and connections for private gain. Following intense skepticism of billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's ties, Buckingham Palace revealed on Thursday evening that it was beginning the formal process of stripping Andrew of his royal titles and that he would be losing his Windsor mansion. Andrew and Ms Ferguson did not respond to a lengthy list of questions about their connection with Mr Bloom and the crypto-mining venture.
Sarah Ferguson was paid more than £200,000 for her services, and a leaked deal revealed she was eligible for a separate reward worth £1,000. 2m. She also acquired a stake in the company, which suggested using solar generators to lower the cost of the energy-intensive computer calculations required to produce or mine
the digital currency Bitcoin. For the maximum of four networking events
she would attend on the company's behalf, her deal stated that she needed first-class travel, five-star hotels, and the services of a licensed hairdresser and make-up artist. She said she did not stand out as an expert on the solar industry
and therefore assumed no responsibility for industry-related reports or commercial audits
that constituted her company's claims.
A royal friendship
Sarah Ferguson first encountered Jay Bloom in May 2018 while at a convention in the city to promote one of her children's books. The two met for the first time in both friendship and company. Pegasus's documents would later outline her role as to
as well as involvement with the organization's plannedengage with the company's stakeholders, investors, and strategic links,
mob experiencephilanthropic initiatives. Mr Bloom's visit was a step toward royal circles, leading to visits to Buckingham Palace and St James' Palace, Ms Ferguson and Andrew's home, Mr. And Andrew Andrew''s castle, and dinners with her and her family in at least four different countries. Mr Bloom had hit the Las Vegas headlines eight years before the duchess took over as a Pegasus brand ambassador, missing payments and deceiving visitors in connection with a
I got to know Ms Ferguson and her family,exhibition in the city. Mr Bloom denied wrongdoing, fought investor's lawsuits, and promised to compensate them. Pegasus is a new company that now has a young staff and aspirations to build a hotel and a casino in Greece. When considering investing in the company, Michael Evers, a former actor and reality TV actor who had earned money from cryptocurrency investments, first met Ms Ferguson in July 2018. The hotel and casino did not get built, but Mr Bloom converted Pegasus to a new idea, one that was inspired by the Las Vegas motor speedway's early 2019 investment case. Mr Bloom and his co-founders devised a scheme to fund a crypto-mining operation by using huge banks of these units. According to the company, the project would bring in millions of dollars per month. Ms Ferguson dined with Mr Bloom in Los Angeles in March 2019. They dined lunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel a few days later as she assisted him in closing a Pegasus contract. During the meal, one of her children was stopped by. Mr Evers was now working for Pegasus as well as being an investor. Mr Bloom and his staff were in London for the next months as they considered selling Pegasus public on the AIM market, which is part of the London Stock Exchange for growing businesses.
he said,and] Prince Andrew [and] Princess Beatrice and a lot of their relatives [and a few others] who he described as
really helpful people, really helpful.We were there for a week to two weeks at a time, and every time the friendships just got bigger and better, and they began offering tours of different places, whether behind the scenes or not you'd call it.
Mr Evers said.And just want to introduce us to more people.
Before going out to speak to the driver, the ramp was suspended,As well as a tour of the Royal Lodge, Andrew and his ex-wife arranged for the pair to visit Buckingham Palace on a day in June 2019 when it was closed to the public. They were picked up from their Knightsbridge hotel by a private driver in a dark blue Range Rover used by Andrew and then driven through the palace gates in the early afternoon. They were led inside to a female greeter who was eager to meet them. The men were caught inside on a video taken from inside the car. According to BBC News, a former Royal Household employee who watched the video told BBC News that it was clear that palace security staff on the gate were expecting the car.
they said.We'd have been to the reception we'd anticipate if we were carrying a member of the Royal Family. The two men deny that anything happened inside. Mr Evers said they had been warned in advance that they would be able to meet the Queen. However, once he was there, he said that workers told him that he wasn't allowed to take pictures.
he said.They didn't want anyone to know that we were meeting Elizabeth. And although she was not doing well, it was more like a hello and a byelection. No touching or anything,
It was just like a quick, 'hello, goodbye,'says the man. The Queen was in residence that day, with her published schedule including her regular weekly viewing with the prime minister. The Palace was unable to confirm or deny whether the two guys were allowed to enter or denounce whether or not the two men were involved. Mr Bloom's initial answer to questions by email said he had only come to visit the palace as a tourist. The only one he encountered at the palace, he later said, was a
pictures I can't post, the photographs I cant affordstaffer. When challenged and presented with evidence from his own social media, including videos of him being led into the palace and remarks about spending time with Andrew, and there being
and then the stuff I couldn't photograph. lol, Mr Bloom said he had misremembered. He later confessed that he was
meeting HRH" on social media.in fact shown to Andrews [sic] office and thanked him for the car and for him and Sarah's organization of the tour. He denied ever having met or been in the same room as the late queen. Mr Bloom paid a second visit to Buckingham Palace in July 2019. Photographs show him on his second visit. He made a joking comment about
Helicopters and guns in the desert
Ms Ferguson was one of two celebrity guests, alongside motivational speaker Tony Robbins, who claims he has worked with celebrities such as Serena Williams and Hugh Jackman, during Pegasus's energy project unveiling in the Arizona desert two months ago. At the remote site of what Pegasus promised would be a multi-billion-dollar off-grid data center, they were flown in, with Mr Bloom, Mr Evers, and others in two black-and-gold helicopters, posed with gold-colored spades and construction hats Mr Bloom introduced Ms Ferguson at a press conference as a personal friend
with ARmed guARds cARrying AR-15 rifles and pistols standing neARby. Ms Ferguson praised the company in a short speech that followed, saying she was so proud to be here
and spouting the possibility of philanthropic uses of the technology in Africa. Ms Ferguson signed a deal pledging to provide Pegasus specific services to Andrew a month before his fateful BBC Newsnight interview in which he frantically tried to reveal his connections to Mr Epstein. The deal was with Alphabet Capital, a British company whose founder, Adrian Gleave, who operated a number of caravan and holiday parks, for reasons that remain unveiled. Ms Ferguson was paid more than £200,000 for her work with Pegasus for Alphabet Capital, according to a High Court decision in London in 2024. According to court documents obtained by the BBC, Andrew has also received money from Alphabet, including £60,500 traced to Mr Gleave and his companies. Neither Andrew nor Mr Gleave have explains how much money was paid. Mr Bloom said he had never heard of Alphabet or Mr Gleave, and that Pegasus had no association with him.
Lawsuits and recriminations
Some of the company's key investors became concerned about progress and began legal proceedings a year after investing millions of dollars in the crypto solar scheme. Judges from the Commercial Arbitration Tribunal in the United States found in the investors' favour in 2023, awarding them millions of dollars. Jay Bloom has since filed a string of court challenges against the award in Nevada. Pegasus spelled any allegations of misconduct
out of the equation, according to Mr Bloom, who said they were
working really hard to get all the money back," but that he regretted to discover that owing to his own money several years later.addressing the clearly flawed arbitral findings through established legal procedures. Andrew and Ms Ferguson did not respond to the BBC's query, including whether Ms Ferrand planned to repay funds earned for her Pegasus service to the company's investors. Mr Evers expressed regret for his involvement with Pegasus. Mr Bloom said he was
