Prince Andrew, already disgraced due to his links with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein suspected of sex crimes, made headlines in British media on Friday due to his closeness to a businessman accused of spying for China.
• Also read: Could Prince Andrew be ousted from his residence by King Charles III?
• Also read: Charles III operated on: princes Andrew and Harry can no longer replace the king
A London court validated on Thursday the decision of the British authorities in 2023 to prohibit the entry into the territory of this man, described as “a confidant” of Andrew, brother of King Charles III.
The Interior Ministry believed that this individual was engaged in “secret and deceptive activities” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party and that he was likely to represent a threat to national security.
The man, aged 50 and simply presented as “H6”, challenged this measure, but the appeals commission responsible for immigration matters rejected his appeal.
The judges found he was in a position to “create relationships between senior Chinese officials and British figures that could be exploited for political interference by the Chinese state.”
The man had become close to Andrew to the point of being invited to his birthday in 2020, and was authorized to act on the prince’s behalf to seek out potential Chinese investors, a hearing in July was told.
The former Secretary of State for Security under the previous conservative government, Tom Tugendhat, on Friday judged this affair “extremely embarrassing”.
“This demonstrates, I fear, the very clear ambition of the Chinese state to exercise its influence over foreign countries,” he commented to the BBC.
For his part, the Duke of York, title of Prince Andrew, affirmed Friday evening to have “followed the advice” of the government and “ceased all contact” with the individual in question “as soon as concerns were raised”, his services indicated in a short statement.
They add that the Duke met this individual “through official channels and nothing sensitive was discussed” between them.
Third of the four children of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Andrew, 64, has been withdrawing from the royal family for several years. He was banned from any official public appearances because of his friendship with American financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sex crimes and trafficking but who committed suicide in prison in 2019 before being tried.
Andrew was deprived of his military titles in early 2022 after accusations of sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl, Virginia Giuffre, a case which he settled with a financial settlement.
