Prince's old flame in bankruptcy row

AMANDA Staveley, the internet entrepreneur whose blonde charms once captivated Prince Andrew, has been served with a bankruptcy petition following a dispute over money owed on a swish Mayfair flat.

The 31-year-old, whose personal wealth has been estimated at £18m, was invited to an event at Buckingham Palace this spring to celebrate high-achieving women.

Property group Scotdean has filed a bankruptcy petition with Cambridge County Court, due to be heard on 10 August.

Staveley said: 'This is a dispute over a deposit held in an escrow account. My lawyers are dealing with it.'

Despite being feted for her business acumen, this is not the first time Staveley has been threatened with bankruptcy - a technique often used by aggressive creditors to extract their cash.

Two years ago accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers petitioned to have her made bankrupt after she was late meeting a personal guarantee. The money was subsequently paid.

The ambitious Staveley, twice named Cambridge businesswoman of the year, claims to have made her first million by age 24. She has recently been eyeing a purchase of the conference division of Rentokil Initial.

But published figures do not reveal a Midas touch. Q.Ton, which runs a conference centre and restaurant in Cambridge Science Park where Staveley played host to King Abdullah of Jordan, made a loss of £1.2m and showed negative net worth of £48,000 in 2001, in the latest accounts available.

Another company, Amanda Staveley Ltd, has negative net worth of £183,000. Virt-Uni.com, where investors include former Leeds United chairman Chris Akers, is in liquidation.

Staveley is a former non-executive director of Alternative Investment Market-listed Future Medical plc, which is making a rub-on Viagra-style cream. It made a £1.4m loss last year.