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Prince Andrew just can’t seem to avoid drama.
The disgraced Duke of York’s links to a suspected Chinese spy were brought up in court after a judge ruled that a letter of support from the duke’s aide must be released, the Times reports.
Dominic Hampshire, Andrew’s former staffer, has been ordered to hand over a letter he wrote in support of Yang Tengbo — the former working royal’s business adviser who has been accused of being a Chinese spy.
The letter was written by Hampshire after Tengbo appealed to reenter the UK following his ban due to his close relationship with Andrew.
Judge Charles Bourne has also ruled that Andrew’s commercial links to Tengbo be disclosed, given that the duke was previously warned that the 50-year-old was a suspected spy, the court heard.
The documents must be disclosed by April 4 unless any party applies for judicial review of the judgment by March 28, the outlet adds.
Hampshire attempted to block the letter’s release, saying it contains “highly private, confidential and commercially sensitive information,” the court heard.
The statement included details “about Mr. Hampshire’s work with the duke which might seem embarrassing or indiscreet, but they are not such as to give rise to the inference that a legal duty of confidentiality attaches to them,” Bourne said.
Documents also contained information about Andrew that were already in the public domain, including “the negative impact of the duke’s 2019 Newsnight interview.”
“Substantial parts of the witness statement contain material which cannot possibly be said to be confidential,” Bourne said, adding that two words in the statement should be redacted as they “contain information which must have been imparted to Mr. Hampshire on the basis that it would be kept strictly confidential.”
“There is a substantial public interest in reporting of international trading activity involving UK companies and in any involvement of any member of the royal family in that activity,” he added.
The court heard that Hampshire told Tengbo in 2021 that he could act on Andrew’s behalf in engagements with potential investors in China.
“I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal and indeed his family. You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship … Outside of [the prince’s] closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on,” he wrote in a letter at the time.
Tengbo, for his part, said the allegations against him are “entirely unfounded.”
As a result, officials had banned Tengbo from returning to the UK in February 2023, saying his connection to the royals was a “serious breach of national security.”
At the time, British officials believed he was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and had secretly worked for its United Front Work Department.
It emerged last month that Andrew held a business meeting with China’s ambassador to the UK just days before his links to an alleged Chinese spy became public.
The duke reportedly hosted Ambassador Zheng Zeguang at the Royal Lodge on Dec. 9 to meet with Middle East investment firm Waterberg-Stirling.
The meeting took place just three days before court papers highlighted Andrew’s close ties to Tengbo.
The disgraced royal previously invited his former business adviser to his birthday party in 2020, where the man allegedly told Andrew that he couldn’t act on his behalf when dealing with potential Chinese investors.