Prince Andrew’s bonds with a supposed Chinese spy were detailed in documents released on Friday by the British courts, including a statement by a former advisor near the Prince about the Duke’s communication line with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The 10 -page statement by Dominique Hampshire, made in May 2024, is part of a set of documents released by the courts after the request of several British media organizations about Prince Andrew’s relationship with the supposed spy, Yang Tengbo. The documents are part of Yang’s appeal against his exclusion from the UK (as he prevents a person’s entry into British soil) in December, which he lost.
Yang would have established a close relationship with the prince and was co-founder of Pitch@Palace China, which expanded the Pitch@Palace of Duke to China initiative.
At a December hearing in December that upheld the previous decision to bar Yang from the UK, it was revealed that he was allowed to act on behalf of Prince Andrew during business meetings with potential Chinese investors in the United Kingdom.
Former interior secretary Suella Braverman told Parliament in December that she made the decision to ban Yang from the United Kingdom “because her presence represented a threat to our national security” and was “based on the MI5 council,” the United Kingdom domestic agency.
Yang denied any irregularity.
Hampshire also said that Yang helped Prince Andrew to write letters to Chinese leader Xi Jinping discussing the Eurasia fund, something Yang had described in his statement to the court as a way to “turn” the pitch@palace of Duke “into an investment business, or a background.” He was also in charge of talking to “relevant people” in China, according to British news agency PA.
“The royal family, including the late Queen (Elizabeth II), was totally aware of this communication-it was certainly accepted and it can be said that it was even encouraged-it was an open channel of useful communication to have,” Hampshire said in the statement.
Hampshire said he met Prince Andrew twice and King Charles in the six months prior to his statement to discuss “what the Duke can do from now on in a way that is acceptable to his majesty.” These conversations included discussions about the Eurasia fund, according to PA.
Buckingham Palace said on Friday that King Charles met with Prince Andrew along with Hampshire over the past year to discuss independent financing proposals, but Yang was never mentioned.
The relationship between Prince and Yang began shortly after the disastrous Duke to BBC interview in 2019 about his relationship with sexual criminal Jeffrey Epstein, which Hampshire said he led to his belief that the prince’s reputation was “irrecoverable.”
“This was a common feeling within the royal family, despite what the Duke thought it could happen. It was very clear internally that we would have to look for options for the Duke’s future away from real duties,” Hampshire said in his statement, according to British news agency PA.
According to PA, Hampshire also said he never saw “something wrong” with Yang (who also used the name Chris), and emphasized that Yang “categorically has no close relationship with the duke.”
“Chris, of course, does not have the Duke’s phone number or his email address and can not speak directly to the Duke on his own-never. This is a normal practice and Chris’s relationship with the Duke is the same as many others,” he said, according to PA.
He also said Andrew “fully fulfilled” with the advice to end all contact with Yang.
Hampshire said in a separate statement on Friday that he left the Royal House in 2022 and no longer provides advice to Andrew, according to PA.
This content was originally published in documents reveal Prince Andrew calls with alleged Chinese spy on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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