Andrew's Newsnight interview 'not advisable', says aide to alleged spy.
BBC Emily Maitlis (left) and Prince Andrew (right) look at each other as they walk side by side in a corridor at the palace.
Prince Andrew stepped down from royal duties after his 2019 interview with Emily Maitlis.
A former aide to Prince Andrew privately admitted to a suspected Chinese spy that the Duke's BBC Newsnight interview was 'reckless', court documents show.
The files reveal how the Prince's aide Dominic Hampshire thanked Yang Tengbo for his support for the Duke in the months after he tried to explain his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on television.
Last month, a court rejected Mr Yang's appeal against a UK travel ban, following an intelligence assessment that he could be working covertly for the Chinese state. Mr Yang has denied any wrongdoing.
This comes after separate court documents revealed that the prince appeared to have been in contact with Epstein for longer than he had previously admitted. An email from a "member of the British royal family", believed to be Prince Andrew, was sent to Epstein in February 2011, court documents showed on Friday. In 2019, the Duke told Newsnight that he had not seen or spoken to Epstein since December 2010.
In the case involving Mr Yang, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) had previously said he had gained an "unusual degree of trust" from the royal family.
Mr Yang came to the UK to study in 2002 and later set up a number of travel and business consultancy companies linked to China.
He met the Duke of York in 2014 and later played a role in the Chinese version of Prince Andrew's "Pitch@Palace" events, in which entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to investors. Documents leaked to the BBC and other media outlets relating to the Siac case now show that the friendship deepened after the November 2019 Newsnight interview, in which the Duke was asked about his relationship with Epstein and denied assaulting Virginia Giuffre.
Mr Yang told the court that "everything changed" after the interview, with international partners withdrawing or walking away from Pitch@Palace.
He said he had agreed to continue supporting the events "at considerable risk to myself and the reputation of my company" because of his admiration and respect for the Duke, and a level of "loyalty and commitment" he felt.
In March 2020, Prince Andrew's senior adviser, Dominic Hampshire, told Mr Yang how much his "principal" appreciated his support.
"We have faced the consequences of a highly ill-advised and unsuccessful television interview," Hampshire wrote in the official letter from Buckingham Palace. "We have been very careful in vetting former private secretaries and have found a way to carefully weed out those we do not fully trust."
Hampshire added that "in what initially seemed a lost cause," Mr Yang "managed not only to save but to preserve and, remarkably, to enhance the reputation of my manager in China."
He continued: "Under your leadership, we have found a way to discreetly move the relevant people in and out of the House of Windsor.
"We orchestrated a very powerful verbal message of support for China at a Chinese New Year dinner and, between the three of us, we wrote, edited and always agreed on a number of letters at the highest possible level."
A copy of a letter on Buckingham Palace letterhead
A letter from Mr Hampshire, written in the newspaper titled Buckingham Palace, said the Newsnight interview was "highly ill-advised and unproductive."
'Total support and loyalty'
Court documents in Mr Yang's case show Mr Hampshire said that since the Newsnight interview, "many people" had shunned the prince because "they simply weren't true to their beliefs or were red carpet runners".
"I could list some very well-known and high-profile names who are no longer with us and there are only a very small number – you take one of them and they continue to show total support and loyalty."
He also sought to emphasise how close Mr Yang was to the Duke after he was invited to his 60th birthday dinner that year.
"This was strictly about his personal and family life, which very few people are privileged to be a part of," Hampshire wrote. He said a "strong and unbreakable foundation" had been formed "with all relevant parties committed to an extremely powerful (perhaps unprecedented) entity at the highest possible level."
Police found the letter on Mr Yang's phone when it was searched under counter-intelligence powers.
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A second letter from Mr Hampshire, sent in October 2020, confirmed to the businessman that he was authorised to represent Prince Andrew in China under the Eurasia Fund, a financial initiative.
The aide stressed in the letter that any transactions involving the Duke must comply with UK law and best practice.
But other evidence found on the phone prompted the then Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, to ban Mr Yang from travelling to the UK in 2023. Police and MI5 suspect Mr Yang is part of a Chinese Communist Party "elite capture" operation to exert influence over the prince.
Security experts say "elite capture" is a well-documented tactic used by the Chinese state to exert influence over people at the top of British life, such as politicians, academics and business leaders.
Mr Yang continues to deny any wrongdoing and is seeking to appeal his detention in the UK.
Court documents released on Friday revealed Mr Yang said all his meetings with the duke were held with the knowledge of Buckingham Palace – and that all he wanted to do was improve relations between the UK and Britain.
Mr Yang said that although he was a member of the Chinese Communist Party, he had never been ordered to interfere with British interests. In a statement issued at the time of the release of the documents, he said: "I reiterate that the allegations made against me are completely unfounded." I am not able to know all the allegations and evidence against me. I have pursued this process in good faith and have ensured full disclosure of all my business and personal affairs." Mr Yang said the UK's position on China was "inconsistent and erratic" and that it had been the victim of a "media circus". :16 Watch: Emily Maitlis interviews Prince Andrew on BBC Newsnight In the Newsnight interview, the prince said he had not seen or spoken to Epstein since December 2010, when he visited the financier's home in New York. The Duke said the meeting ended their relationship in February 2011. The case involves the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and banker Jes Staley, who was banned from any senior role after he was accused of mishandling his relationship with Epstein. Staley has appealed against the FCA, but the financial watchdog's evidence about Staley's contacts with Epstein also includes emails relating to a "member of the British royal family", which show what appear to be friendly and familiar exchanges. According to court documents, on February 27, 2011, Epstein sent an email: "Jes Staley will be in London next Tuesday afternoon, if you have time", in messages first reported by the business news agency Bloomberg. There was a reply from the "member of the British royal family" with a question: "Jes coming on March 1 or next week?" "Court documents say there was a 'discussion of news articles' and then the message: 'Stay in close contact and we'll play again soon!!!'" Prince Andrew is believed to have first met Epstein in 1999, with the financier attending parties at royal properties between 2000 and 2006. In 2008, Epstein was convicted in the US of recruiting a minor for the purposes of prostitution and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. In July 2019, Epstein was arrested on charges of child sex trafficking. He died in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial. In November of the same year, Prince Andrew was interviewed by Newsnight and subsequently stepped down from royal duties. The latest allegations add to the questions surrounding the prince's trial. It was another bad day for Prince Andrew. In a spectacular understatement, his close aide was revealed to have told a suspected Chinese spy that the prince's appearance on Newsnight had been "a failure." This could well sum up much of the years that followed, as he became an increasingly reclusive figure, no longer a working member of the royal family. The King, his brother, cut off his allowance, and he was under such pressure to leave his Windsor home that it was named the seat of the royal lodge. Recent allegations about his links to Jeffrey Epstein and his business dealings with China will add to questions about his judgment. Buckingham Palace will again be alarmed by details such as the claim that the alleged spy "found a way to get relevant people into the House of Windsor without being detected".
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