Mystery of Edward's Ardent fan

ARDENT is dead, long live Ardent. Only three months ago, Prince Edward said he was stepping down from his loss-making television company, Ardent Productions.

He and his wife Sophie decided that, after hostile headlines, they could not continue in business without appearing to cash in on their royal position. They would instead concentrate on official duties.

That appeared to mark the beginning of the end of a nine-year venture that racked up total losses of £2m - and generated a huge amount of negative publicity because of allegations that Edward traded on his family connections. Last year, Ardent achieved the dubious distinction of being the only media company to hound Prince William at St Andrews University.

But now Financial Mail has discovered that a mystery offshore investor has ploughed £350,000 into the international sales arm of Ardent. And the backer might effectively gain ownership of Ardent Productions' only asset - the programmes the Earl of Wessex has made to sell overseas.

Edward said in March that he would stand down from Ardent, but he remains a director of the company and its offshoots. He and his fellow board members have been quietly reorganising the business, applying for several subsidiaries that never traded to be struck off the register of companies. These include Ardent Sports, Ardent Television and Ardent Entertainment.

But a spin-off company, Ardent International Sales, is bent on expansion and has just issued new shares with a face value totalling £350,000. Ardent International was set up in 1997 to market Edward's media projects worldwide. In the process, it bought the copyrights from its parent company, Ardent Productions.

That appeared to be no more than a book-keeping exercise as Ardent International borrowed money from its parent to fund the deal. According to its last accounts, the loan stood at £250,000. Only 1,000 shares in Ardent International existed. A company called Intercap Ventures Inc, which gives its address as the British Virgin Islands, owned a quarter of them. Ardent Productions held the remainder.

Then at the end of March came the decision to expand. Documents authorising the deal were signed by Malcolm-Eldridge on behalf of Ardent International's parent. The second signature, on behalf of Intercap, is no more than an illegible scrawl.

Intercap has now bought all the new Ardent International preference shares, giving it first call on the company's assets and profits. The cash injection can be used to pay off its debt to the parent company and gain sole control of all Edward's film work to date.

Ardent Productions has always been more notable for its activities offscreen than on.

When Edward said he was to set up his own television company, the news was greeted with sniggers. This was the Edward who had thought up the risible It's A Royal Knockout and who had worked at Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group as a tea-boy. And despite refusing to trade on Edward's royal connections, Ardent Productions soon became known for royal programmes such as Crown And Country and Edward On Edward.

There are few clues to Ardent's mystery backer. Official records show that in Miami, there is a company called Intercap Investments, which is sometimes referred to as Intercap Ventures. But there appears to be no connection between the US outfit and Edward's.

The unknown investors behind Intercap Ventures obviously believe they are getting something for their money. They can only hope to do better than Ardent Productions' British backers, including Kwik-Fit founder Sir Tom Farmer and DFS furniture tycoon Lord Kirkham, who have nothing to show for their £2m investment.

Ardent's managing director, Malcolm Cockren, declined to reveal the identity of the mystery investor. 'I have never talked about our investors before and am not going to do so now,' he told Financial Mail. Cockren said he and other directors know who is behind Intercap Ventures.

But the identity has been withheld from other Ardent employees. He said that to the best of his knowledge the company was unconnected with the Miami-based Intercap. He confirmed that Ardent was seeking to sell other companies' material. 'I am hoping that following various discussions with people at Cannes Film Festival, we will have signed some deals to do that,' he said.