Britain's Countess of Wessex in court over company debt

Jul 3, 2006, 23:13 GMT

Britain's Countess of Wessex, Sophie Rhys-Jones, has been taken to court over her PR company's debts.

The aristocrat - who set up RJH Public Relations in 1997 - reportedly owes £30,000 in unpaid county court judgments.

Sophie - who is married to Britain's Prince Edward - is the first member of Britain's royal family to be pursued through courts due to debt.

According to Britain's The Times newspaper, the company, which was set for expansion later this year (06) with opening of ten offices in New York and Washington DC, is to be liquidated.

Christopher Clarke, RJH's company secretary, described the news as 'embarrassing'.

He said: 'Of course, it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing for all of us. Nobody likes to be in this situation.

'The county court rulings against us involves disputes with suppliers over the nature of the fees. We took legal advice but the court ruled another way.'

Financial losses, caused by the collapse, have not yet been established.

RJH was caught in turmoil in 2001, when an undercover reporter - posing as an Arabic sheikh - exposed the Countess for using her royal status to gain clients for the business.

The royal family was also left red-faced, after transcripts of taped conversations between the reporter and Sophie were printed in a Sunday newspaper.

The reports claimed Sophie made disparaging remarks about several British politicians and branded Prime Minister, Tony Blair's, wife 'horrid'.

Mr Clarke claimed the company never fully recovered from the scandal and said it had become a challenge to attract new clients to the shamed business.

He said: 'It made it very difficult to attract new clients. I am sad about the way it has all ended.'

The Buckingham Palace has refused to comment on the news and stated that RJH was not a matter of the royal family.

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International