Challenge made to Stanford’s knighthood

As England's cricket team trudge home from the Twenty20 in Antigua – they were thrashed by ten wickets and so missed out on the $20m prize money – questions are being asked about the knighthood conferred on the Texan-born billionaire behind the tournament, Sir Allen Stanford (pictured).

Sir Allen's corporate website claims that after he became a citizen of the Commonwealth territory of Antigua, it appointed him a "Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of the Nation" and that this award was presented to him by "His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex".

Sounds impressive, but the Mail on Sunday points out that the Prince had nothing to do with the honour. Yes, he was in Antigua at an event where the award was formally made in 2006, but Buckingham Palace state that he certainly didn't present it to Stanford. Indeed, the means by which the impresario came by the honour is currently the subject of a legal challenge.

Antigua's National Honours Act authorises the granting of titles to distinguished citizens, who are screened by a bipartisan committee. But Stanford was knighted under a 2000 amendment to the act, which permits the island's most powerful politicians to allow their candidates to bypass the vetting procedure.

Phillip Abbott, a businessman who is descended from the island's first settlers, has contested the amendment’s validity in the Antiguan High Court. Said Abbott: "The spectacle of Allen Stanford being knighted got up my nose. This amendment permits politicians to nominate anyone for a title without going through the vetting required by law.

"The decision to knight Stanford was a mockery. He wasn't given his title by Prince Edward. He was nominated for it by the politicians whose favouritism has helped to make him very rich. Allen Stanford doesn't deserve a knighthood." ·