Prince Andrew's damaged reputation led to links with Chinese man accused
of spying, documents show
[April 05, 2025]
By DANICA KIRKA
LONDON (AP) — Prince Andrew’s damaged reputation and desperate need for
cash are again causing headaches for King Charles III after a court
released more documents on Friday showing how Andrew’s problems led him
to become entangled with a suspected Chinese spy.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission released the witness
statement of Dominic Hampshire, a senior aide to Andrew who helped
arrange meetings between the prince and the suspected spy, Chinese
businessman Tengbo Yang. Yang was eventually authorized to operate on
Andrew’s behalf as he sought Chinese investors for an initiative called
the Eurasia Fund.
Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, needed to find other ways to
support himself after he was forced to give up all royal duties
following a disastrous interview with the BBC in 2019, Hampshire said in
the statement. Andrew gave the interview to address concerns about his
links to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but it backfired when he
failed to explain his continued contact with Epstein or show 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 said in a
10-page statement dated May 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 worried that Andrew’s situation left him vulnerable
to manipulation by Yang, who they believe was working on behalf of the
United Front Work Department, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party that
is used to influence foreign entities. Yang denies the allegations.
The British government barred Yang from entering the country in 2023 as
a threat to national security. The Special Immigration Appeals
Commission upheld that decision in December 2024.
Hampshire, who gave evidence on Yang’s behalf, said 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 said. “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 said on Friday that the king met with Andrew and his
adviser to hear “outline proposals” for independent funding. Yang was
never mentioned.
Andrew, one of the king’s younger brothers, has been repeatedly
criticized for his links to wealthy foreigners, raising concerns that
those individuals were trying to buy access to the royal family.
Hampshire’s statement was initially kept private, but the commission
released it after appeals by news organizations that argued it was in
the public interest.
Hampshire, who left Andrew’s service in 2022, said he sought to keep his
statement out of the public domain to protect confidential
communications with the security services and Buckingham Palace.
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Prince Andrew leaves after attending the Christmas day service at St
Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham in Norfolk, England, Dec. 25,
2022. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)
What the duke says
Andrew previously said he accepted government advice and ceased all
contact with the Chinese national as soon as the concerns were
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 become increasingly concerned about
China’s efforts to influence U.K. government policy.
In 2022, Britain’s domestic intelligence service, known as MI5,
warned politicians that a British-Chinese lawyer had been seeking to
improperly influence members of Parliament for years. A
parliamentary researcher was arrested in 2023 on suspicion of
providing sensitive information to China.
Yang, 51, worked as a junior civil servant in China before he came
to the U.K. as a student in 2002. He earned a master’s degree in
public administration and public policy at the University of York
before starting a business that advises U.K.-based companies on
their operations in China.
He was granted the right to live and work in the U.K. for an
indefinite period in 2013. Although he didn’t make Britain his
permanent home, Yang told authorities that he spent one to two weeks
a month in the country and considered it his “second home.”
Yang was stopped while entering the U.K. on Nov. 6, 2021, and
ordered to surrender his mobile phone and other digital devices on
which authorities found a letter from Hampshire and other documents
that highlighted his close relationship with Andrew.
“I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal
and indeed his family,” Hampshire said in excerpts from the letter
released previously. “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.”
In the witness statement released on Friday, Hampshire characterized
those comments 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 said.
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