Princess Michael of Kent on waltzing with her husband in 1984

Along with several other international media outlets and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), the Times examined a leak of 50,000 business emails sent between 2013 and 2020, some of which are associated with Queen Elizabeth’s cousin.

The report, published on June 20, revealed that the Prince’s equerry emailed a diplomat in Moscow, Russia, asking if he could “expedite” an application by businessman Maxim Viktorov, who then travelled to London less than a week later in 2018.

Mr Viktorov, who was previously a Russian Ministry of Defence advisor, appointed in 2012, was said to be a close advisor to Putin’s associate Boris Rotenberg in 2018, who was one of the most prominent oligarchs to have been sanctioned by the US when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Mr Rotenberg — thought to have been part of the Russian President’s inner circle — was sanctioned by the UK in February last year in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Mr Viktorov has not been sanctioned.

“The leak of emails has shown that this business partner of Prince Michael is in fact a very close advisor of Boris Rotenberg. Boris Rotenberg is one of Putin’s closest allies and was sanctioned by the UK shortly [after] the war in Ukraine.”

In a comment given to the Times on Monday night, the Government defended processing Mr Viktorov’s visa through its “priority” service explaining that it does so “where there is a clear national interest — such as to support inward investment”.

The leak of emails also shows how Prince Michael was writing to members of Middle Eastern royalty to try and “drum up support” for this company RemitRadar, Mr Greenwood said.

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Prince Michael has a one percent stake in the British company RemitRadar — which is described on Linkedin as a transfer marketplace — along with Russian business partners. Mr Viktorov oversaw a “significant investment” of £100,000 in the company in 2018, according to the Times.

The journalist Mr Greenwood claimed that the late Queen’s first cousin was using his royal authority “for a business in which he had a stake”.

He added: “What the leak shows is how those business partners have been in contact with the Rotenbergs, one of which it fair to say is a close advisor to them… It really does shine a light on Prince Michael’s relationships in Russia.”

Mr Viktorov was also a member of the board of Moscow Suvorov Military School and is the first deputy chairman of the Russian Association for the Promotion of Science of which Putin’s daughter Maria Vorontsova is also a member of the committee, according to ROSCONGRESS.

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The findings come after a three-month investigation by The Times, the OCCRP, and the Russian news website iStories as well as other international media outlets including Le Monde and Der Spiegel.

Prince Michael has faced controversy for his links to Russian businessmen before. In 2021, the royal — who is fluent in Russian — told undercover reporters posing as gold investors that he could be hired for £10,000 a day to make “confidential” representations to the Russian President.

He said he was prepared to endorse the fictional company by recording a speech for some £150,000 using his Kensington Palace apartment as a backdrop.

He told the Times’s undercover reporters: “I have never had any close connection before with gold and the idea makes me very happy.”

His spokesperson issued a statement after reports about “selling access” emerged which said Prince Michael had “no special relationship” with Putin, having had “no contact” with him since 2003.

Prince Michael has been approached by Express.co.uk for comment.

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