Prince Andrew’s ex Staveley lands City

Amanda Staveley (pictured), the 35-year old former girlfriend of Prince Andrew, has been revealed as the deal-maker behind Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan’s purchase of Manchester City football club this week. The former model got to know the Sheikh through her racing connections, which were forged many years ago when she ran Stocks, a restaurant in Newbury which was frequented by senior staff from the Arab Emirates multi-billionaire’s stable.

Staveley, a senior director of London private equity company PCP Capital Partners, was the link between the Sheik’s man, Sulaiman al-Fahim, and the club’s former owner, Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand. According to sources close to the £210m deal, al-Fahim spent two weeks negotiating with Staveley before tying up a deal.

Although she was acting for Manchester City and Shinawatra, it is understood that Staveley’s credentials among Middle Eastern royalty were key to the sale being completed. Said a source: "Amanda is known and trusted by her contacts in the Gulf like almost no other non-Arab. She has spent a decade building that relationship. She tells things as they are and has a clarity of purpose that they appreciate."