Prince Andrew smuggled Sarah Ferguson's 'toe-sucking' lover into Windsor following his trainwreck Newsnight interview about his links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
US businessman John Bryan - who reportedly had a fling with the Duchess of York in 1992 - is said to have dished out "honest advice" to the Duke in the aftermath of his fateful interview back in 2019.
Prince Andrew stepped down from royal duties and the Queen stripped him of his military affiliations and patronages in the wake of a sex scandal earlier this year.
He denied the allegations against him and later came to an out-of-court settlement, reportedly worth £12 million, with his accuser Virginia Giuffre. The settlement is not an admission of guilt.
Mr Bryan said he offered the Yorks' strategic advice on how to restore Andrew's reputation and finances after he was forced to step down from official royal duties in the wake of the interview.
The businessman admitted that he was "stunned" to be invited back into the family's inner circle at a time when Andrew was in crisis.
He told the Mail on Sunday : "Sarah asked me to come and help Andrew and the girls.
"I'd stayed friends with Sarah, but when everything was going down, when it was bad, she reached out to me and I was happy to help."
Mr Bryan said that the family needed a "strategic plan that everyone could buy into" following Andrew's disastrous interview with the BBC's Emily Maitlis.
He said that he was in contact with Fergie following her husband's TV appearance and was messaging her with "the normal things you say to an ex" like "I hope you're OK".
Mr Bryan said both Andrew and Fergie were "distraught" when he was invited into their home to help.
Mr Bryan recalled meeting Fergie in London, and claims the pair hugged and cried, after being whisked off the family home in a Range Rover with blacked-out windows via a luxury central London hotel.
Mr Bryan said he then helped the family draw up a plan to help them out of their struggles.
Among other things, Mr Bryan said he advised Andrew to show sympathy for Epstein's victims and encouraged him to voice his understanding of the magnitude of the paedophile's heinous crimes.
Andrew famously said that Epstein has acted "in a manner unbecoming" during his BBC interview, to which Maitlis curtly replied: "Unbecoming? He was a sex offender."
Mr Bryan said he went back for a second visit to the family home, again taking measures to avoid detection from the press.
"It was cloak-and-dagger stuff," he said. "Eventually, I was driven into Royal Lodge via a neighbouring property."
He said that Andrew gave him "a handshake and a hug" upon seeing him and added that Andrew was unable to concentrate for more than 40 minutes at a time due to the strain he was under.
Mr Bryan told the Mail on Sunday that he is convinced of Andrew's innocence.
The Mirror has contacted the Duke and Duchess of York for comment.
