Prince Andrew said he ‘cut off all contact’ with accusations of being a Chinese spy

Prince Andrew said he “stopped all contact” with a businessman accused of being a Chinese spy after receiving advice from the government.

In a statement, his office said Prince Andrew met the man “through official channels” and “no matters of a sensitive nature were ever discussed”.

The alleged spy was later banned from entering the UK ruling by the UK’s semi-secret national security tribunal.

The man, known only as H6, was described in court as a “close confidant” of Prince Andrew who had formed an “unusual level of trust” with the duke.

In 2023, H6 appealed its original ban but the decision was upheld by the court.

Judges heard the businessman was trying to leverage Prince Andrew’s influence.

The duke’s office said he “cannot comment further on matters relating to national security”.

His statement did not specify when he stopped contacting the man or the duration of their contact.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment, saying it was not acting on the prince, who is not a working royal.

The Chinese Embassy in the UK has denied the spying accusations and said that “some individuals in the UK are always eager to fabricate baseless ‘spy’ stories targeting China”.

“Their aim is to defame China and disrupt normal exchanges between Chinese and British personnel,” an embassy spokesman said.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman banned H6 in the UK in March 2023.

He then took his case to the Special Immigration Appeals Board, a tribunal established to consider appeals against decisions to bar or deport someone from the country for cause. national security or related reasons.

in The verdict is announcedthe jury upheld Braverman’s decision.

The court heard H6 was invited to Prince Andrew’s birthday party in 2020 and was told he could deal with potential investors in China on Prince Andrew’s behalf.

It is unclear how H6 became close to the prince, but in November 2021, police stopped and questioned him at the UK border under their authority to investigate suspicions of “activities hostile” of a foreign country.

At that stop, H6 handed over a number of electronic devices including mobile phones.

What the officers found on them so implicated the MI5 security agency that Braverman used his special powers to ban H6 from entering the country.

In a letter found on one of his devices, H6 was told by Dominic Hampshire, adviser to Prince Andrew: “Outside [the prince’s] The closest confidants, you sit on top of the tree where many people want to sit.”

Mr Hampshire added: “Under your guidance we found a way to get those involved in and out of the Windsor house unnoticed.”

No further details about the “relevant persons” were given in the excerpt from the letter included in the judgment.

Mr. Hampshire also confirmed to H6 that he can negotiate on Prince Andrew’s behalf “with potential partners and investors in China.”

A document listing the “key points” of the call with Prince Andrew was also found.

It states: “IMPORTANT: Manage expectations. It’s really important not to set expectations ‘too high’ – he’s in a desperate situation and will grab at anything.”

The court assessed that this meant that H6 had the potential to “create relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent UK figures that could be exploited by the Chinese State for purposes of political intervention”.

The judges said H6 had gained “an unusual degree of trust from a senior member of the Royal Family who was willing to engage in business activities with him”.

They added that the relationship developed at a time when the prince was “under significant pressure”, which “may have left him vulnerable to the abuse of that type of influence”.

The prince has faced increasing scrutiny since late 2019 over his friendship with the late US financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including his infamous Newsnight interview in November. Those 11 years.

He withdrew from royal duties in November 2019 and since then the prince has been haunted by questions about his judgment and finances.

Questions are asked about the prince’s finances after he reached a settlement – believed to be in the millions – in a civil sexual assault case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s accusers. The prince has always denied assaulting Ms. Giuffre.

Isabel Hilton, editor of China Dialogue, told BBC News that Chinese state agents often target “members of the House of Representatives or prominent businessmen or people with a voice in the community”.

She added that targeting a royal was “quite ambitious” and “quite unwise for a member of the Royal Family to allow themselves to be targeted”.

Security chiefs fear Beijing is attempting an “elite capture” campaign to influence the Duke of York because of the pressure he is under, a tactic aimed at appointing individuals senior level into Chinese businesses, consulting organizations or universities.

H6 was later informed that British authorities believed he was linked to the United Front Work Department (UFWD), a branch of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with conducting activities that cause harm to the United States. affect.

The judgment said MI5 director general Ken McCallum had expressed concern about the threat to the UK posed by Chinese political interference and that agencies such as UFWD were “carrying out fraudulent campaigns, well funded, patient to buy and influence”.

The Home Office said it believed H6 had engaged in covert and fraudulent activities on behalf of the CCP and that his relationship with Prince Andrew could be used for political interference.

Suella Braverman has now called on H6 to remain anonymous and she told The Daily Telegraph that “revealing this person’s identity will have a deterrent effect on others”.