Britain's Prince Andrew facing lawsuit over Swiss chalet

Legal proceedings have been launched in Switzerland against Britain's Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, a newspaper reported Thursday, over money they were said to still owe on a luxury chalet.

Queen Elizabeth II's second son and Sarah, who remain close despite their 1996 divorce, bought the plush holiday home in the Verbier ski resort in southwest Switzerland in 2014 for 22 million Swiss francs.

The wooden chalet has seven bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool and a sauna, Le Temps newspaper reported.

However, the Duke and Duchess of York did not meet a December 31, 2019 deadline for paying off a chunk of that sum, Le Temps said.

In the deeds of sale, seen by the French-language daily, six million francs were due to be paid at the end of last year -- now eight million francs with interest.

Le Temps quoted a spokeswoman for the Yorks as saying: "There is a dispute between the two parties in this matter," adding that the contractual details were "subject to a confidentiality agreement".

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman told AFP: "This isn’t something we would comment on."

The legal proceedings add to 60-year-old Andrew's woes.

The prince, who is eighth in line to the British throne, stepped back from all royal duties in November following a public outcry over his friendship with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Four months on, the law firm Etude du Ritz has been instructed by the vendor to launch legal proceedings at the local prosecution office, Le Temps reported.