Andrew Windsor, son of Britain’s hereditary head of state, told the Financial Times in an interview in New York that he had briefed Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev for the G20 summit in “five minutes of conversation”. He explained that Medvedev is “young man with no experience of that sort of environment”.
Mr. Windsor, who will become head of state if his brother and two nephews die before him, is also Britain’s special representative for international trade and investment, a job that the financial newspaper said had “no obvious parallels elsewhere in business or government”. Windsor chose not to go to university and the job was created for him when he ended his career as an air force pilot.
In justifying his job Mr. Windsor said “I’m not in receipt any public funds. The Queen funds out of her personal pocket the cost of my office”. He did not mention that £12m of his mother’s annual income is from the public assets of the Duchy of Lancaster. Nor did he refer to the cost of the bodyguards that the FT journalist reported were protecting Windsor. The total cost of protecting numerous members of the feudal family has been estimated to exceed £50m.
The report mentioned that Mr. Windsor’s friends include the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Freedom House says the United Arab Emirates, of which Abu Dhabi is a part, “not an electoral democracy. All decisions about political leadership rest with the dynastic rulers of the seven emirates”.
The FT paid for the lunch for two, which cost $94.
Mr. Windsor is regarded as a “duke” and a “prince” in Britain’s class system.