The Canadian mansion in which Prince Harry and his wife Meghan resided in late 2019 and early 2020, after leaving the United Kingdom, is Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, linked to the Kremlin and that for years he has hidden his relationship with the property.

This was confirmed this Thursday by an investigation by Canadian public radio and television, CBC, which explains that the property of the Mille Fleurs mansion located on Vancouver Island and valued at millions of dollars, is hidden behind a complex network of companies in tax havens like the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas and Jersey.

The property of the mansion in which Prince Harry and Meghan took refuge at the start of their crisis with the rest of the British royal family has been shrouded in mystery over the years.

Until now, it was only known that their stay was agreed through Canadian music producer David Foster, whose wife, singer Katharine McPhee, is a friend of Meghan Markle.

CBC said, thanks to documents included in the leak Pandora Papers of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), of which Milner is the original owner.

Milner is a famous Russian-born billionaire who has made huge profits by investing in companies such as Facebook and Twitter.

In 2017, it became known that about half of his investments in Twitter came from money provided by VTB Bank, Russia's second-largest bank, which finances the activities of officials and oligarchs linked at the highest levels to the regime. Russian.

CBC also said the money Milner used to access Facebook and multiply his initial investment came indirectly from hundreds of millions of dollars in loans granted by Gazpromthe Russian state-owned energy company.

These loans are in turn linked to fellow Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who is on the list of Russian oligarchs sanctioned by Canada. VTB Bank and Gazprom were also sanctioned by Ottawa.

Although Milner's representatives initially denied any connection to the Canadian mansion, the Pandora Papers revealed that the Russian billionaire was the owner of Andromeda Trustwho in turn owned the property.

A 2018 letter from Milner’s attorney notes: “Potential beneficiaries of the Andromeda Trust include charities, family and friends of Yuri Milner. »

The same representatives added that years ago, Milner and his relatives ceased to be beneficiaries of the fund that owns Enrique and Meghan's Canadian mansion. (YO)