Sarah Ferguson’s ill-fated solar-powered crypto venture tied to controversial palace visit
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has once again found himself at the centre of royal controversy — this time for organising a private Buckingham Palace tour for cryptocurrency investors who reportedly paid Sarah Ferguson up to £1.4 million.
According to the BBC, American businessmen Jay Bloom and Michael Evers were chauffeured through the palace gates in Andrew’s own car while the late Queen was still in residence. The pair were given a private tour and later claimed they met the monarch, though their accounts differ.
Their company, Pegasus Group Holdings, had hired Fergie as a “brand ambassador” for a crypto mining venture that ultimately collapsed, leaving investors millions out of pocket. The tour reportedly took place before the pair attended Andrew’s Pitch@Palace event at St James’s Palace, followed by dinner with Andrew, Ferguson, and their daughter.
Ferguson’s involvement in the project was meant to blend royal glamour with green technology. She promoted plans to mine Bitcoin in the Arizona desert using solar power. However, the project’s output fell far short — only 615 of the planned 16,000 generators were ever built, producing just $33,779 (£26,677) worth of cryptocurrency.
Despite the failure, Fergie received over £200,000 for her role and stood to gain a further £1.2 million bonus, according to leaked documents. Her contract included perks such as first-class flights, luxury hotels, and a professional beauty team for promotional events.
Her connection with Pegasus began in 2018 when Bloom met her at a Las Vegas convention promoting her children’s books. Through that meeting, she was introduced to Evers, a former actor and crypto investor, and soon the pair became fixtures in her social circle.
“We were there once a month for a week or two at a time,” Evers recalled. “Every visit strengthened the bond — they wanted to introduce us to more and more people.”
Those introductions led beyond conferences and dinners to Buckingham Palace itself, as well as private visits to Royal Lodge — raising serious questions about how royal access was being traded for financial gain.
