Duchess of York commits “grubby” ethical breach

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Duchess of York commits “grubby” ethical breach

By Lauren | May 26, 2010

After all the bad news from the Gulf oil spill and the economic meltdown, it was almost a relief to turn to press reports that Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson had to apologize for attempting to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew of Britain, for about $723,000. Seems that the duchess has been having financial problems, and told a reporter who posed as a tycoon that she would “open doors” to Prince Andrew in exchange for cash. Deah, deah, deah. (We’ll talk about the reporter’s ethics in my next post.)

The duchess was lucky that her presumed tycoon was actually a reporter in disguise. Prince Andrew has been acting as an unpaid international trade envoy since 2001, so he has real power in the international business community apart from his largely symbolic standing as a member of the Royal Family. Paid or not, trade envoys are supposed to act for the good of their countries and not be influenced by people who shell out cash to their ex-wives. Had the duchess succeeded in her “pay to play” antics, both she and Prince Andrew could have been been in serious trouble.

Home Office minister Lynn Featherstone has blasted the duchess’ actions as “shoddy” and “grubby,” and the duchess herself has apologized for her “serious lack of judgment.” She probably won’t be charged with a crime, but she certainly seems to have been almost criminally naive. It’s one thing to introduce a friend to the Duke of York over a spot of tea, quite another to leverage a personal relationship with a powerful trade envoy for financial gain. Maybe the Duchess of York doesn’t understand the difference, but captains of industry certainly should.

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