Top Tories face questions after eight donors and three Conservative MPs were awarded knighthoods by tax haven San Marino in the space of just two years.
The micro-state has handed out the Order of St Agatha - one of its highest honours - to 12 people since 2020.
All but one is either a Tory MP or a donor - with former PM Theresa May and ex-Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt both getting gongs.
Also on the list are a string of donors - who between them have handed £3.6 million in cash and gifts to the Conservative Party.
The only recipient who is not directly linked to the Conservative Party is Zilah Skerritt, the executive assistant to San Marino's Honorary Consul, Maurizio Bragagni - himself a major Tory donor.
Mr Bragagni insisted the honours were dished out in recognition of “help” given to the state during the Covid-19 pandemic following a "social media appeal."
“A group of people, UK citizens, responded to this appeal and have done everything possible in the human capacity to help the Republic,” he told the Sunday Mirror.
“All these people have participated in the campaign to help San Marino totally freely, without any obligation by birth, ethnicity, political affiliation, or nationality.”
He added: “They have been recognised by the Republic as defenders of the Republic, as defenders of the democracy in this darkest moment of the history of Europe.
“The award recognises that these individual gestures have been able to generate a chain of solidarity and generosity, something of high value for the San Marino authorities.”
But Labour Chair Annelise Dodds said the Tories “need to explain why so many of their donors have been handed gongs" by the country’s honorary consul, Mr Bragagni.
She added: “The conveyor belt of Conservative cronyism raises serious questions about the access culture under Boris Johnson and whether the right permissions were granted here.”
There’s no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of the donors or MPs.
The slew of gongs handed to Tory backers started shortly after Mr Braganani became Consul in 2019.
The following year, Tory MP Andrew Rossindell became founding chair of the first ever All-Party Parliamentary Group on San Marino - which has arranged a number of freebie trips for mainly Tory MPs to the Republic, paid for by the Consulate.
San Marino is a tiny enclave country - just 24 square miles in total, and entirely surrounded by Italy. But unlike Italy it is not a member of the EU.
Reputedly among the world’s oldest democracies, the 33,600-strong population elects two joint heads of state every six months.
Tax rates on income, capital gains and corporations are all significantly lower than in Italy, with shareholders paying no tax on dividends held for longer than 12 months.
Captains Regent Francesco Mussoni and Giacomo Simoncini visited the UK last month, meeting with Boris Johnson and Mr Rossindell - and officially handing out knighthoods to four people - all Tory donors.
The list of Boris Johnson's wealthy backers who have been honoured by San Marino include tennis loving mega donor Lubov Chernukhin, millionaire hedge fund manager Dominic Johnson and restaurateur and property mogul Giuseppe "Joe" Ricotta.
Mr Ricotta said: "My family gives to many charities, including giving money to San Marino. We've done nothing wrong."
Of the eight Tory donors given knighthoods, five responded to the Sunday Mirror’s request for comment - and all denied their honours had been related to donations to the Conservative Party.
But questions remain over the validity of the awards as Foreign Office rules state UK citizens must seek the permission of the Queen before accepting an honour from a foreign power.
One donor, Professor George Holmes, was made a ‘Knight Commander of the most prestigious Equestrian Order of Saint Agatha’ in October last year (2021).
He told the Sunday Mirror the award was in recognition of advice he had given the Republic during the pandemic, and denied it was related to the “occasional…small sums” he had donated to the party.
He added: “I was advised that the [Foreign Office] had confirmed to the government of SM that I was ‘approved by HM to receive the award’.”
The Foreign Office declined to comment on individual cases.
Mr Bragagni said all the necessary procedures were followed, and the Queen’s approval was granted after “close cooperation” between San Marino authorities and the British Embassy in Rome.
Holders of overseas honours are banned from using their new title - in this case, “Cavaliere" - in the UK.
