READ MORE: Fresh doubts are raised over Farage's claims he did not have to declare £5million 'gift' from crypto–currency tycoon See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy MARTIN BECKFORD, POLICY EDITOR Published: 00:43 BST, 10 July 2026 | Updated: 01:24 BST, 10 July 2026
Scotland Yard is investigating £500,000 of donations to Reform UK by the mother of a convicted criminal who is close to Nigel Farage, it emerged last night.Met Police detectives have interviewed two people under caution as part of a criminal probe that has been going on for more than a year.The force said it is looking at a section of electoral law, punishable with a fine or up to a year in prison, that makes it a crime for anyone to evade restrictions on the source of donations by withholding details or supplying false information. The case centres on two donations of £250,000 made to Reform ahead of the 2024 general election by Fiona Cottrell, whose son 'Posh George' has provided staffing, security and accommodation for Mr Farage – whom he calls 'Daddy'.Ms Cottrell, 67, whose son is a crypto-currency entrepreneur based in Montenegro, refused to answer questions when approached by reporters at her cottage in rural Worcestershire.She is a daughter of the late Rupert Watson, 3rd Baron Manton, and a former model who reputedly dated King Charles when he was Prince of Wales. The 3rd Baron Manton inherited a 'family soap empire'. Mr Farage's relationship with convicted criminal George Cottrell, 32, has come under scrutiny in recent days Fiona Cottrell, a former model who reputedly dated King Charles when he was Prince of Wales, is at the centre of a police probe into £500,000 donations to Reform UKA Reform UK spokesman said last night: 'The British people are tired of the establishment media doing anything they can to stop Reform.'A daily routine of hit jobs and smears will not deter us from winning the next general election and fixing broken Britain. It's now clear that the establishment will try anything to stop us.'Mr Farage's relationship with Mr Cottrell, 32, who was jailed in the US in 2016 after being caught in a money-laundering sting, has come under scrutiny in recent days.His role in the party has been described as an unpaid volunteer but he has also paid for trips by Mr Farage to the US and Brussels.The Reform leader has been adamant that the assistance from Mr Cottrell – which included drivers and use of a townhouse near Buckingham Palace – did not need declaring to Parliament because it came in the year before he became an MP.It comes just a day after it emerged that the Met is also investigating a donation to Reform MP Robert Jenrick's campaign to become Tory leader.
