LONDON (AP) — Prince Andrew’s broken popularity and determined want for money are once more inflicting complications for King Charles III after a court docket launched extra paperwork on Friday exhibiting how Andrew’s issues led him to turn into entangled with a suspected Chinese language spy.
The Particular Immigration Appeals Fee launched the witness assertion of Dominic Hampshire, a senior aide to Andrew who helped organize conferences between the prince and the suspected spy, Chinese language businessman Tengbo Yang. Yang was ultimately approved to function on Andrew’s behalf as he sought Chinese language buyers for an initiative referred to as the Eurasia Fund.
Andrew, also called the Duke of York, wanted to seek out different methods to help himself after he was pressured to surrender all royal duties following a disastrous interview with the BBC in 2019, Hampshire stated within the assertion. Andrew gave the interview to handle considerations about his hyperlinks to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but it surely backfired when he failed to clarify his continued contact with Epstein or present sympathy for his victims.
“After the Newsnight interview and in the following few months, it was clear that the duke’s reputation was irrecoverable,” Hampshire stated in a 10-page assertion dated Might 25, 2024. “It was very clear internally within the royal household that we would have to look at options for the duke’s future away from royal duties,” he added.
Andrew’s vulnerability
British authorities apprehensive that Andrew’s scenario left him susceptible to manipulation by Yang, who they imagine was engaged on behalf of the United Entrance Work Division, an arm of the Chinese language Communist Occasion that’s used to affect international entities. Yang denies the allegations.
The British authorities barred Yang from getting into the nation in 2023 as a menace to nationwide safety. The Particular Immigration Appeals Fee upheld that call in December 2024.
Hampshire, who gave proof on Yang’s behalf, stated the king was briefed on Andrew’s initiatives.
“I have had two meetings with the Duke and His Majesty to discuss what the Duke can do moving forwards in a way that is acceptable to His Majesty,” Hampshire stated. “It is also of note that, amongst other topics, the Eurasia Fund and (an investor) were discussed on both occasions with His Majesty.”
Buckingham Palace stated on Friday that the king met with Andrew and his adviser to listen to “outline proposals” for impartial funding. Yang was by no means talked about.
Andrew, one of many king’s youthful brothers, has been repeatedly criticized for his hyperlinks to rich foreigners, elevating considerations that these people have been attempting to purchase entry to the royal household.
Hampshire’s assertion was initially stored personal, however the fee launched it after appeals by information organizations that argued it was within the public curiosity.
Hampshire, who left Andrew’s service in 2022, stated he sought to maintain his assertion out of the general public area to guard confidential communications with the safety providers and Buckingham Palace.
What the duke says
Andrew beforehand stated he accepted authorities recommendation and ceased all contact with the Chinese language nationwide as quickly because the considerations have been raised.
“The Duke met the individual through official channels with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed,” his office said in December. “He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.”
British intelligence chiefs have turn into more and more involved about China’s efforts to affect U.Ok. authorities coverage.
In 2022, Britain’s home intelligence service, referred to as MI5, warned politicians {that a} British-Chinese language lawyer had been in search of to improperly affect members of Parliament for years. A parliamentary researcher was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of offering delicate data to China.
Yang, 51, labored as a junior civil servant in China earlier than he got here to the U.Ok. as a pupil in 2002. He earned a grasp’s diploma in public administration and public coverage on the College of York earlier than beginning a enterprise that advises U.Ok.-based corporations on their operations in China.
He was granted the appropriate to dwell and work within the U.Ok. for an indefinite interval in 2013. Though he didn’t make Britain his everlasting house, Yang informed authorities that he spent one to 2 weeks a month within the nation and thought of it his “second home.”
Yang was stopped whereas getting into the U.Ok. on Nov. 6, 2021, and ordered to give up his cell phone and different digital units on which authorities discovered a letter from Hampshire and different paperwork that highlighted his shut relationship with Andrew.
“I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal and indeed his family,” Hampshire stated in excerpts from the letter launched beforehand. “You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship. Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.”
Within the witness assertion launched on Friday, Hampshire characterised these feedback as “artistic license.”
“As is regularly the case in some communications, there was significant artistic license in ‘blowing smoke’ and stroking his ego to maintain (Yang’s) support of the duke,” Hampshire stated.
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