Disgraced Goodwin prepares to return to his life in Capital

Published on Wednesday 22 July 2009 09:51

FORMER Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin has come out of hiding to return to the UK, with friends saying he plans to return to his home in the Capital.

The disgraced banker, who led RBS into its worst financial crisis, returned to British soil for a date with Prince Charles yesterday.

Sir Fred was given a farewell lunch at Clarence House as he stepped down as chairman of the Prince's Trust charity.

Friends say he will now return to Edinburgh, where his Victorian mansion was attacked by vandals in March.

A friend said: "Fred's kids are due back at school here at the end of August and he is hoping to pick up the pieces of his life in Edinburgh."

Sir Fred, 50, flew into Heathrow yesterday before being chauffeur-driven to Clarence House, where he met the Prince and welcomed the new chairman of the Prince's Trust, Carphone Warehouse chief executive Charles Dunstone.

A Clarence House spokeswoman said: "The Prince of Wales hosted a private lunch for members of the Prince's Trust Council to welcome new trustees.

"The lunch followed a regular council meeting, at which a new chairman was appointed.

"Sir Fred Goodwin did attend. It was his final council meeting as the outgoing chairman."

In January it was revealed that Sir Fred was to step down as chairman of the Prince's Trust after holding the role for six years. A few months earlier, he had announced he was quitting as RBS chief executive after a huge financial bail-out by the government.

His reputation was left in tatters after Edinburgh-based RBS posted annual losses of 24.1 billion and needed to be bailed out with taxpayers' money.

Sir Fred bowed to public pressure last month and offered to hand back more than 210,000 a year of his controversial pension.

The banker "volunteered" to reduce his payout from 555,000 to 342,500 a year, according to RBS.

It recently emerged that Sir Fred was entertained by Gordon Brown shortly before the extent of the crisis at RBS was known.

He and his wife Joyce enjoyed hospitality at the Prime Minister's country retreat, Chequers, last year.

Sir Fred has not been seen at his Edinburgh home since the public outcry over his pension, which was signed off despite RBS suffering the largest corporate loss in UK history.

He has since been living near the resort of Cannes, on the French Riviera, in a secure villa guarded round the clock by security staff and dogs.