How Princess Beatrice Wound Up In A Fraud Scandal Over A Lavish Donation To Her Wedding

Princess Beatrice had an unusual wedding for a royal — the July 2020 ceremony was fairly low-key, private, and not televised. However under-the-radar her nuptials were, she managed to get caught up in a fraud scandal surrounding what was called a high-dollar gift to Princess Beatrice for the wedding. It was a bit of a convoluted case, which also involved Beatrice's sister, father, and mother — Princess Eugenie, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Here's what we know.

Nebahat Isbilen, a Turkish millionaire, argued in court that Selman Turk, her financial advisor, had stolen from her and misused millions of her money, giving over a million to members of the Duke of York's family. As she worked to try and get her money back, she referenced some of the reportedly dodgy payments that Turk had made with her money. That included making a payment of £750,000 to Prince Andrew that Turk told the bank was a wedding present for Beatrice.

Nebahat Isbilen came to the United Kingdom from Turkey after her husband was arrested there for his involvement with the 2016 coup attempt, and she was using Selman Turk to help get her money out of Turkey. She also needed to get a new Turkish passport, and Turk reportedly advised her that giving money to Prince Andrew, Duke of York could help make that happen. Isbilen said in court that: "Mr. Turk told me that he received help from the Duke of York to show or send the picture of my old passport to Turkey and that this service would normally be worth £2 million, but it would cost less if we made the payment by way of a gift," per The Telegraph.

However, in November 2019 when that £750,000 transfer was made to Prince Andrew, it wasn't earmarked as for anything to do with Isbilen's passport problems, but rather as a wedding gift for Princess Beatrice. As a gift, it wouldn't be subject to tax in the same way that other payments would be. Beatrice reportedly had no knowledge of the money, and she wasn't happy to have her name tied up in the scandal.

So the money doesn't seem to have been a gift for Princess Beatrice's wedding or tied to getting Nebahat Isbilen a new passport. Instead, some think that it was reportedly connected in some way to Selman Turk's appearance and win at Prince Andrew's 2019 "Pitch@Palace" event — a bit like "Shark Tank." Turk won the "People's Choice" award for a digital bank company that has since gone into liquidation. Exactly how the £750,000 payment to Prince Andrew was (or was not) linked to the "Pitch@Palace" event, we don't know, but Isbilen thought there was a connection. Prince Andrew, who is no stranger to scandal, has since paid the money back. 

Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York was also reportedly paid £225,000 of Isbilen's money at the direction of Turk. She said she knew nothing about any impropriety surrounding the money. Princess Eugenie was also paid a total of £25,000 with a bank transfer in October 2019 being referred to as a "birthday gift," as reported by The Telegraph. The money was allegedly for Ferguson's 60th birthday party, and, like her mother, Eugenie said she had no knowledge of the money as being fraudulently given. Turk was sentenced to a year in prison for contempt of court over the matter.