Investigation: The prince, the palace & Putin
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 10 May 2021
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A Sunday Times Insight investigation reveals a royal allegedly using their position to enrich themselves. Going undercover and working with Channel 4's Dispatches, the Insight team filmed HRH Prince Michael of Kent at a business meeting in which prospective clients were told he could be hired for £10,000 a day to make representations to Vladimir Putin’s tyrannical Russian regime. The investigation calls into question the way in which members of the royal family are permitted to make money and how they get involved in British foreign affairs.
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Guests:
Jonathan Calvert, Editor of The Sunday Times Insight investigations team.
George Arbuthnott, Deputy editor of The Sunday Times Insight investigations team.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Clips used: Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, Channel 4 Dispatches, Embassy of Russia, Reuters, BBC, Sambofias.
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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:52.0 | And I'll see you on Saturday for an extra behind the scenes chat. |
| 1:10.0 | If a member of the royal family was profiting by selling businesses |
| 1:15.0 | an introduction to their political contacts, |
| 1:18.0 | contacts they only had because of their position, |
| 1:21.0 | they'd be a scandal. |
| 1:24.0 | So what if they were selling businessmen secret access to a foreign government |
| 1:32.0 | and in particular to the controversial Russian president Vladimir Putin? |
| 1:39.0 | Prince Michael of Kent is alleged to have been secretly selling his privileged access to |
| 1:44.0 | Vladimir Putin's Russian regime to business clients who are seeking favours |
| 1:49.0 | from the Kremlin by taking advantage of his role as a magistrate's unofficial ambassador to Russia. |
| 1:55.0 | Britain says Russia poses the greatest threat to its national security. |
| 2:00.0 | The government imposed fresh sanctions against Russia after the Salisbury poisoning |
| 2:05.0 | and criticized the Kremlin for its attempts to undermine democracy. |
... |
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