Prince Andrew's admirer

May 17, 2010, 12:24 GMT

Britain's Prince Andrew has an admirer in his friend Goga Ashkenazi who claims she "loves" him.

The Duke of York - who is forth in line to the throne - is being pursued by Goga Ashkenazi, the Chief Executive of MunaiGaz Engineering Group, a leading oil and gas company with operations in Kazakhstan, Russia and the Ukraine, who claims she is ready for romance with the prince.

She told Hello! magazine: "Yes, I am single - please take that as an invitation! I'm prepared to say that I love Andrew very much. I think he's super smart - I call him the walking encyclopaedia.

"He is fascinating and loves to discuss internal politics. He does a great deal for this country and I have a lot of fun with him. He is also staggeringly down to earth."

Goga, 30 - who has been friends with Andrew for a number of years and was recently introduced to his mother Queen Elizabeth - attended both of his 50th birthday parties in February where she felt the monarch was "very warm" to her.

She said: "It was fantastic. The Buckingham Palace event was very different... the whole evening was super classy. Her Majesty genuinely looked as if she was enjoying her son's coming-of-age so to speak. She was friendly and very warm.

"In comparison, the party at St James's Palace, hosted by his daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie, and his ex-wife Sarah, was a real lively, humorous, intimate and cost evening."