'Southyork' left to crumble by buyer who paid over the odds

Questions were being raised today over the sale of Prince Andrew's former family home to a mystery Kazakhstani buyer who has allowed it to fall into disrepair.

The Duke of York sold Sunninghill in September 2007 for £15 million - £3 million more than its guide price. The Surrey home was on the market for five years and he was advised to drop its price to less than £10 million.

A Channel 4 Dispatches documentary last night questioned the sale, asking why someone would buy a house for several million pounds more than it was worth only to leave it to rot.

The house and its grounds are slowly crumbling - fuelling speculation that the house deal only went through as a favour to Prince Andrew by powerful friends in Kazakhstan who have no intention of living there.

The swimming pools are covered in slime, doors are hanging off hinges and windows are broken, while a stable block has fallen into disrepair. The gates are open and trees that fell in recent heavy winds remain unmoved.

The house was sold in September 2007 to an offshore trust registered in the tax haven British Virgin Islands. Kenes Rakishev, 29, who says he is a friend of Prince Andrew, admitted negotiating the sale but denies being the owner.

One suggestion is it was bought by Mr Rakishev's business partner Timur Kulibayev, the wealthy son-in-law of Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Prince Andrew is a regular visitor to the former Soviet republic as part of his role as UK Special Representative for Trade and Investment. He has made private visits and has even been goose hunting with President Nazarbayev.

Dispatches questioned whether the sale of the house compromised the prince's role as a special ambassador. Programme makers suggested Prince Andrew's position could invite suspicion that his role was open to abuse.

The Queen bought Sunninghill as a wedding present for Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986. Its resemblance to Southfork, the home of the Ewing family in soap opera Dallas, earned it the nickname "Southyork". After the couple divorced, the Duchess of York lived there until it was put on the market in 2002. Two sales fell through, prompting suggestions Prince Andrew was desperate to sell after committing himself to taking on Royal Lodge, the Queen Mother's old home in Windsor Great Park.

Buckingham Palace today insisted there was nothing untoward about the sale of Sunninghill Park. A spokesman said: "There were no side deals and absolutely no arrangement for the Duke of York to benefit otherwise or to commit to any other commercial arrangement. We cannot be clearer that there is absolutely no impropriety."