Prince Andrew speaks out following connections to barred ‘Chinese spy’

The Duke of York has said he ‘ceased all contact’ with the businessman accused of being a Chinese spy when concerns were first raised about him.

Prince Andrew met the individual through ‘official channels’ with ‘nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed’, a statement from his office said.

The businessman – known only as H6 – lost an appeal over a decision to bar him from entering the UK on national security grounds.

After receiving a decision from Suella Braverman, the former Home Secretary, in March 2023 that he should be banned from entering the UK, he decided to take his case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

H6 was described as a ‘close confidante’ of The Duke.

Judges were told that in a briefing for the home secretary in July 2023, officials claimed H6 had been in a position to generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials ‘that could be leveraged for political interference purposes’.

They also said that H6 had downplayed his relationship with the Chinese state, which combined with his relationship with Prince Andrew, 64, represented a threat to national security.

A statement from Prince Andrew’s office said: ‘The Duke of York followed advice from His Majesty’s Government and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised.

‘The Duke met the individual through official channels with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed.

‘He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.’

It comes following reports that King Charles has been briefed by British intelligence over a major security breach linking the Duke to the alleged Chinese spy.

The King was told counter-intelligence officers are probing how Price Andrew trusted the now banned Chinese suspect as his ‘confidante.’ 

Speaking to The Mirror, a royal source said: ‘The King has been briefed about this situation regarding the suspected Chinese spy and is very aware of what has been and what is being done about it.’

In a ruling on Thursday, Mr Justice Bourne, Judge Stephen Smith and Sir Stewart Eldon, upheld a ban on H6 from entering the country and said the Prince Andrew’s troubles had left him ‘vulnerable’ to exploitation.

It is the latest humiliation for Prince Andrew who is already a royal pariah after being forced to step back from palace duties following the Jeffrey Epstein paedophile scandal. 

In the ruling, judges assessed H6 was in a position to ‘generate relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent UK figures which could be leveraged for political interference purposes by the Chinese State’.

Asked whether the prince’s advisers should have been more alert to the danger, former minister of state for security Tom Tugendhat told the BBC that ‘it’s not quite as black and white as it may first appear – but it’s certainly extremely embarrassing’.

The specialist tribunal heard that the businessman was told by Dominic Hampshire, an adviser to Prince Andrew that he could act on the duke’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China, and that H6 had been invited to Prince Andrew’s birthday party in 2020. 

‘Outside of his (Andrew’s) closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on,’ Mr Hampshire told H6 in a 2020 letter.

A letter referencing the birthday party from the Mr Hampshire, was discovered on H6’s devices when he was stopped at a port in November 2021.

Mr Hampshire, 56, is a former Scots Guard who rose to the rank of captain, spending the final three years of his decade in the Army as an equerry to the Duke of Kent. 

He has said his role involved ‘running the professional life’ of the Duke of Kent, with official records showing he accompanied His Royal Highness – a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II – on royal engagements in the late 1990s to countries including France, Canada and South Africa.

A married father-of-two from Chalfont St Peter, Bucks, Mr Hampshire was described in court documents released on Thursday as Prince Andrew’s ‘advisor’ in dealings with a Chinese civil servant who has been banned from entering the UK over claims he is a secret agent gathering intelligence on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]. But he has long acted as a ‘fixer’ for members of the Royal Family and other ‘high net-worth individuals.’

Former interior minister Suella Braverman banned H6 from entering the country in 2023 after her ministry found he had engaged in ‘covert and deceptive activity’ on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The tribunal upheld the ban on Thursday, ruling that Braverman ‘was entitled to conclude that his exclusion was justified and proportionate’.

Prince Andrew withdrew from frontline royal duties in late 2019 after public outrage over a BBC television interview in which he defended his friendship with Epstein.

The former Royal Navy helicopter pilot, 64, in February 2022 settled a US civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17.

Queen Elizabeth II stripped him of his honorary military titles and patronages soon afterwards, effectively shutting him out of royal life