Andrew's Newsnight interview 'not advisable', says aide to alleged spy.

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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