David Stern signed a contract with a Chinese ministry in 2013 and boasted of “strong access” to high-ranking figures in Beijing, The Telegraph reports.
At the time, he was a senior advisor to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and was also close to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Communications seen by the newspaper suggest that Stern and Epstein planned to use the “aura and access” that Mountbatten-Windsor had built up in his role as British trade envoy to strengthen their operations in China after he resigned.
Two agreements
Among other things, an agreement between Stern's health technology company and China's Ministry of Labor included plans to build data centers in the country.
Mountbatten-Windsor is also said to have helped Stern close a deal worth 20 million pounds, just over 240 million Swedish kronor, with a company after inviting its executives to his office in Buckingham Palace, the newspaper writes.
Both agreements were reached after Mountbatten-Windsor's time as Trade Envoy from 2001 to 2011. The role is appointed by the government and requires the person to act in the interest of the British public.
Pictures with women
The former prince was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of "misconduct in public office" and was released almost eleven hours later.
Stern and Epstein also wrote derogatory emails about women and sent each other photos of Mountbatten-Windsor with women in Beijing. The photos were allegedly taken during his time as trade envoy, according to the newspaper.
The latest information raises further questions about the former prince's business connections and his relationships with Epstein and Stern.
The police search of Mountbatten-Windsor's current home has ended, but the search continues at his former home, Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle. Unmarked vans, believed to be police vehicles, have been driving into the area throughout Friday morning, the AP news agency reports.
The ex-prince has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein but has not commented on allegations in connection with the publication of the so-called Epstein documents.
Fact: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
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Born February 19, 1960, as Andrew Albert Christian Edward, third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
He is number eight in the British line of succession.
He served as a pilot in the British Navy during the Falklands War in 1982.
He married Sarah Ferguson in 1986. They then became the Duke and Duchess of York. Andrew and Sarah divorced ten years later.
He has two daughters with Sarah Ferguson, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, born in 1988 and 1990 respectively.
He was accused in 2014 of raping then 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre in 2001 at the home of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Giuffre later sued Andrew, and the parties reached a settlement over the sexual assault allegations in 2022. Giuffre died in April 2025, aged 41.
Andrew renounced the title of Duke of York last October, as well as several other titles and honours, including Britain's highest order, the Order of the Garter. At the end of October 2025, he also lost the right to the title of prince.
