The Queen’s youngest daughter-in-law Sophie, the Countess of Wessex’s PR company is being dragged through the courts over a string of unpaid debts.
LONDON: Causing embarrassment to the royal family, the Queen’s youngest daughter-in-law Sophie, the Countess of Wessex’s PR company is being dragged through the courts over a string of unpaid debts.
Sophie’s company RJH Public Relations, which she founded in 1997 two years before she married Prince Edward, is now being wound up and liquidators are being appointed. RJH has four unpaid county court judgements totalling £30,000. At least ten county court cases against RJH, dating back to September 2004, have been reported to the Companies House.
“Of course it’s embarrassing. Nobody likes to be in this situation,” said Christopher Clarke, company secretary of RJH. “The county court rulings against us involved disputes with suppliers over the nature of the fees. We took legal advice, but the court ruled another way,” added Clarke.
The Mayfair offices of RJH were deserted over the weekend and all 12 staff members have lost their jobs.The Inland Revenue and Barclays Bank, who have taken charge of a mortgage on the premises will have priority in any payouts.
The Countess, who was formerly Sophie Rhys-Jones is the first senior member of the royal family to be pursued for bad debts. The Countess had hoped that the company, which was worth £3.5 million with a list of 30 upmarket clients would make her wealthy independent of the royal family. Sophie, had also hoped her royal credentials would help. She was badly caught out by a sting operation carried out by the infamous ‘fake sheikh’ of the tabloid newspaper News of the World. The Countess’ indiscretions with the ‘fake sheikh’, in which she was taped exploiting her position as a royal, upset the Queen so much that she authorised an unprecedented review of the commercial affairs of working royals.
The Queen also stopped the Countess from pursuing a commercial career and increased Prince Edward’s and Sophie’s allowance to £250,000 a year. The Wessexes live in a 57-room mansion in Surrey, the largest royal residence after the Queen’s.
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