Royal twist as Charles dragged into Prince Andrew Chinese ‘spy’ scandal as Palace speaks
Prince Andrew and his former adviser Dominic Hampshire travelled to Windsor twice in secret to meet with the King, new reports into the Chinese ‘spy’ scandal have revealed
Prince Andrew and his ex-adviser reportedly had hush-hush meetings with the King at Windsor to discuss an investment fund tied to a suspected Chinese spy, as per recently disclosed tribunal documents.
Yang Tengbo, who has previously insisted he’s “done nothing wrong or unlawful”, was booted out of the UK on national security grounds in March 2023. Officials alleged he was in a position to forge ties between high-profile UK individuals and top Chinese figures “that could be leveraged for political interference purposes”.
Mr Yang, also known as Chris Yang, unsuccessfully fought the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) last year. The judges concluded the businessman was a “close confidant” of Andrew and had earned an “won a significant degree, one could say an unusual degree, of trust” of trust from the Duke of York.
Documents from the legal battle, including a witness statement from Andrew’s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire, were made public on Friday following requests from several media outlets.
In Mr Hampshire’s 10-page statement, dated May 2024, the ex-aide told SIAC he had met twice with Andrew and the King in the previous six months to chat about “what the duke can do moving forwards in a way that is acceptable to His Majesty”, reports the Mirror.
The ex-aide dished the dirt, revealing chats with His Majesty touched on the Eurasia Fund, which Mr Yang bigged up in his tribunal evidence as a way to “upgrade” the duke’s Pitch@Palace gig “into an investment-type business, or a fund”.
Mr Hampshire spilled: “For both these meetings with His Majesty, despite less media interest in the duke, we took all precautions to get in and out of Windsor Castle without being seen.”
He also said Mr Yang was helping him pen letters about the Eurasia Fund to Chinese president Xi Jinping and had the green light to chinwag with “relevant people” in China.
However, Buckingham Palace has said while the King did have talks with Andrew and his adviser about getting some independent money, Mr Yang “was not mentioned at any time or in any way as part of these discussions”.
The Palace’s official line is: “While His Majesty met with The Duke and his adviser to hear outline proposals for independent funding over the past year, the individual known as H6 was not mentioned at any time or in any way as part of these discussions.”
Mr Hampshire didn’t hold back in his statement either, saying the duke’s rep was down the drain after Andrew’s 2019 Newsnight car crash interview about his ties with the late, disgraced billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. This led to a scramble to figure out a future for the duke away from Royal duties.
In a ruling in March, three judges at SIAC said Hampshire’s statement could be disclosed, finding it was “drafted explicitly to be used in support of representations” by Mr Yang. Mr Yang has previously said he intends to appeal against the decision upholding his ban from entering the UK.
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