Prince Andrew’s entanglement with a suspected Chinese spy has pulled King Charles III into the spotlight after new details emerged on Friday in a U.K. immigration tribunal.
A statement from Dominic Hampshire, a former senior adviser to Prince Andrew, revealed that Andrew maintained a close relationship with Yang Tengbo, the 50-year-old suspected Chinese spy, according to media reports. Yang was banned from entering the U.K. in 2023.
The testimony, released by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, offers a detailed account of how deep the connection ran — from meetings that included King Charles to birthday greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The scandal erupted in December, when it emerged that Yang, had enjoyed a close friendship with Prince Andrew, the brother of King Charles. Andrew, who is the Duke of York, already was a figure of disgrace in Britain over his close ties to the late American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. That made Yang the prince’s “only light at the end of the tunnel,” according to Hampshire’s testimony, the BBC reported.
Yang eventually became a close adviser on Andrew’s business ventures, authorized to operate on the prince’s behalf as he sought Chinese investors for an initiative called the Eurasia Fund. Moreover, documents show details of Andrew’s “communication channel” with China’s Xi, including the sending of annual birthday wishes.
King Charles was aware of Andrew’s initiatives, Hampshire claimed in his testimony. “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, the Associated Press reported. “It is also of note that, amongst other topics, the Eurasia Fund and (an investor) were discussed on both occasions with His Majesty,” according to the testimony.
Buckingham Palace released a statement on Friday admitting to meetings by Charles with Andrew and an adviser to hear proposals for independent funding. But it denied that Yang was involved in the meetings.
“While His Majesty met with the Duke and his adviser to hear outline proposals for independent funding over the past year, the individual [Yang] was not mentioned at any time or in any way as part of these discussions,” the palace said.
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