Price of a prince: £500,000. Duchess of York devastated by access deal revelation

THE Duchess of York has told of her devastation after being filmed offering to sell access to her former husband, Prince Andrew.

A video produced by a tabloid newspaper showed Sarah Ferguson promising to introduce an undercover reporter posing as an Indian businessman to the prince, who has been the UK's special representative for international trade and investment since 2001.

The film features the duchess telling the reporter that a 500,000 donation to her personal bank account would "open doors". Asked if she was referring to the prince, she said, "Yeah", then shook hands with the News of the World journalist, before apparently accepting a $40,000 (27,600) cash down-payment.

She was also filmed allegedly instructing him how to transfer 500,000 to her bank account, saying: "Then that, is then like, then you open up all the channels whatever you need, whatever you want, and then that's what and then you meet Andrew and that's fine. And that's, that's when you really open up whatever you want."

Yesterday, her spokeswoman, Kate Waddington, confirmed the recording was authentic. She said the duchess was "devastated" and "regretful" of the embarrassment she had caused.

Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on the incident, but there have been calls for a government investigation.

There is no suggestion that Prince Andrew, who works as an unpaid special representative for the government agency UK Trade and Investment, was aware of the meetings or claims made.

Last night, it was reported she has offered to leave Prince Andrew's royal residence after recordings of the interview were broadcast across the world.

The duchess was expected to attend an event organised by children's charity, Variety, in Los Angeles last night. She was scheduled to pick up an award for her charity work. It is believed she has not spoken to her ex-husband since the story came out, as he had been on a flight back to the UK from Asia where he had been on official business.

The duchess was filmed explaining how the prince meets "the most amazing people" in his role as special representative, but insisted he "is completely whiter than white". In one scene from the film, she is shown sitting in front of a table with a large amount of cash laid out on it. The paper said despite the prince knowing nothing about the deal, the duchess claimed to have discussed it with him, saying: "Andrew said to me, 'Tell him 500,000'. He knows that he's had to underwrite me up to now because I've got no money. So if you want to meet him in your business, look after me and he'll look after you… you'll get it back tenfold."

Graham Smith of Republic, which campaigns for a "democratic" alternative to monarchy, said: "Even if Andrew was unaware of cash changing hands in exchange for meetings, such impropriety could seriously damage Britain's reputation abroad. Yet in response to these allegations, all we get is silence from the palace.

"Sarah Ferguson remains on good terms with her ex-husband. There is at least reason enough to look closely at Andrew's role and whether there is any grounds for suspicion that he has turned a blind eye to this sort of behaviour. His role as trade ambassador is already highly questionable. We believe these revelations are grounds for a full investigation."

The former royal has carved out a niche for herself as a children's author and charitable activist in recent years. She is the founder of Children in Crisis, an organisation that helps educate youngsters, and is patron of a range of charities.

But rumours of money troubles have dogged her since the couple's divorce in 1996, and have gathered pace recently. Only last month, it emerged she was facing legal action from a leading law firm over a substantial unpaid bill, thought to be as much as 100,000.

And it emerged her New York-based company Hartmoor LLC, set up to manage her US career in publishing, public speaking and media work, was expected to close with 600,000 debts.

A UK Trade and Investment spokesman said Prince Andrew had been appointed by the Queen and referred inquiries to Buckingham Palace. The palace said it would not be commenting.