Cash-strapped Prince Andrew is spotted having lunch at a fancy private members’ club in Mayfair with his billionaire sports tycoon former business partner

Prince Andrew steps out of a glitzy private members club and appears to have regained some of his old swagger.

Our exclusive photos show how – despite the impending release of a Netflix film about his disastrous Newsnight interview – the Duke of York enjoyed lunch with his close friend and ex-business partner, billionaire sports mogul Johan Eliasch.

Their meeting earlier this month at Harry’s Bar in Mayfair, central London, will fuel speculation that Andrew is determined to end his internal exile and restore his public image. It also raises the prospect of Andrew considering a new venture with little money.

Mr Eliasch, who is worth an estimated £3.8 billion, was a director of Prince’s flagship company – the Dragons’ Den-like initiative Pitch@Palace – but resigned in 2021.

The company was thrown into disarray after Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview in November 2019 about his relationship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Our exclusive photos show how the Duke of York enjoyed lunch with his good friend and ex-business partner, billionaire sports mogul Johan Eliasch (pictured)

Their meeting earlier this month at Harry’s Bar in Mayfair, central London, will fuel speculation that Andrew is determined to end his internal exile and restore his public image.

Prince Andrew has rarely been seen outside Windsor Great Park, where he lives in the 30-room Royal Lodge mansion, amid the fallout from the scandal over his friendship with Epstein.

In 2022, Andrew reportedly paid £12 million to settle a civil case brought by 40-year-old Virginia Giuffre, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17 after being trafficked by Epstein. Andrew vehemently rejects her claims.

The Duke is now gearing up for the release of Netflix’s Scoop on Friday – a dramatization of the Newsnight interview. In a further blow, rival streaming giant Amazon is planning its own three-part series on the interview.

Despite this, Andrew seemed like a man on a mission as he emerged from Harry’s Bar shortly before 3pm on March 19.

“Andrew definitely wasn’t hiding,” said an onlooker.

‘The doorman tipped his hat at him as he came out, Andrew recognized him and then walked to his car. He didn’t care who saw him. He seemed optimistic that he was back in central London.’

Someone saw the doorman tip his hat to Andrew as he came out

Andrew proved to be a man on a mission when he emerged from Harry’s Bar shortly before 3pm on March 19

The prince appeared to look over his shoulder as he left the chic restaurant

The Duke was having lunch with one of his few loyal friends who have remained faithful to him

Andrew and Mr Eliasch did not respond to a request for comment after being spotted at lunch

“Andrew definitely wasn’t hiding,” said an onlooker

The prince has rarely been seen in public since his Newsnight interview

The prince is bracing for the release of Scoop, the Netflix drama about his BBC interview nightmare

In the photo the prince was walking to his car

The prince is now rarely seen in public

Andrew walked quickly to his car before leaving after lunch

The prince was dressed in a lunch suit

Andrew also seemed to have sausage fingers, just like his older brother, King Charles

Andrew made his way to a waiting Range Rover

The Duke is now gearing up for the release of Netflix’s Scoop on Friday (with Gillian Anderson left) – a dramatization of his infamous 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Matlis (right)

The interview is widely regarded as the most disastrous in royal history

Prince Andrew has rarely been seen outside Windsor Great Park (pictured), where he lives in the 30-room Royal Lodge mansion, amid fallout from the scandal over his friendship with Epstein

Prince Andrew has become a public pariah after his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The couple pictured in New York’s Central Park in 2011

Prince Andrew, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell pose for a photo. The photo is said to have been taken in London in 2001

In 2022, Andrew reportedly paid £12 million to settle a civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre (pictured), 40, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17 after being trafficked by Epstein. Andrew vehemently rejects her claims.

Andrew and Mr Eliasch, the Swedish head of sporting goods company Head, have been friends since a charity tennis tournament at Buckingham Palace in 2000.

The following year, Andrew – while a guest of Mr Eliasch and his then-wife Amanda – was pictured on a yacht off the coast of Thailand, romping with topless women.

Mr. Eliasch is still one of the few loyal friends who have remained faithful to the duke.

In August 2019, two weeks after Epstein’s death, Mr Eliasch defended Andrew, saying: ‘Anyone who knows the Duke well knows that he is intensely loyal to his friends and that loyalty is sometimes not in his best interests.’

Later that year, it emerged that Andrew and Mr. Eliasch had quietly formed a company together called Naples Gold. The company was dissolved in 2021.

Andrew and Mr Eliasch did not respond to a request for comment.