Prince Andrew says he has “ceased all contact” with the alleged Chinese spy

Prince Andrew said he had “ceased contact” with the businessman accused of being a Chinese spy after receiving advice from the government.

In a statement, his office said Prince Andrew met the man “through official channels” and “nothing serious was ever discussed”.

A suspected spy has been banned from the UK as a result a decision by the UK’s secretive national security court.

The man, known only as H6, was described in court as a “close confidant” of Prince Andrew who had developed an “unusual trust” with the monarch.

In 2023, H6 filed an appeal against his first ban but the decision was accepted by the court.

Jurors were told the businessman was trying to use Prince Andrew’s influence.

The Duke’s office said it “cannot comment further on matters of national security”.

His statement did not specify when he stopped communicating with the man and when they were in contact.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment, saying they do not do it for the prince, who is not a working monarch.

China’s ambassador to the UK dismissed the espionage claim saying “some people in the UK are always eager to make up baseless ‘spy’ stories against China”.

“Their aim is to defame China and disrupt normal communication between Chinese and British workers,” said a spokesman for the embassy.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman banned H6 in the UK in March 2023.

He then brought his case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a court set up to hear appeals against decisions to ban or remove someone from the country for national security or related reasons.

Of published decisionthe jury upheld Braverman’s decision.

The court was told that H6 was invited to Prince Andrew’s birthday party in 2020 and told he could represent him when dealing with potential investors in China.

It is unclear how H6 became close to the prince, but in November 2021 police stopped and questioned him at the UK border under powers to investigate allegations of “hateful activity” by a foreign country.

At that stop, H6 donated a lot of electronics, including cell phones.

What the police find in them concerns the security services MI5, so much so that Braverman used his special powers to stop H6 from the country.

In a letter found in one of his missions, H6 was told by Dominic Hampshire, Prince Andrew’s adviser: “Without [the prince’s] who is closest to them, sits at the top of the tree where most people would like to be.”

Mr Hampshire adds: “Under your guidance, we have found a way to get the right people out of the house in Windsor.”

No further details about who the “relevant persons” are are provided in the extract from the letter included in the decision.

Mr Hampshire also confirmed to H6 that he would represent Prince Andrew in talks with “potential investment partners in China”.

A document has also been found detailing the “key talking points” of the phone call with Prince Andrew.

It says: “IMPORTANT: Manage expectations. It’s very important not to set ‘too high’ expectations – you’re in a tough spot and you’ll handle anything.”

The court assessed that this meant that H6 was in a position to “create relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent UK figures that could be used for the purposes of political interference by the Chinese State”.

The judges said the H6 had earned “an extraordinary degree of trust from a senior member of the Royal family who was willing to go into business with him”.

They added that the relationship developed at a time when the prince was “under a lot of pressure” which “would make him vulnerable to the abuse of that kind of influence”.

The prince has faced increasing scrutiny since late 2019 because of his friendship with the late US financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including his interview with the popular Newsnight in November of that year.

He he withdrew from royal duties in November 2019 and the prince has since been dogged by questions about his judgment and finances.

Questions were raised about the prince’s finances after it reached a settlement — believed to be in the millions — in a sexual assault lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s accusers. The prince has always denied hitting Ms Giuffre.

Isabel Hilton, editor of China Dialogue, told BBC News that agents of the Chinese government will often look for “members of the Royal House or prominent businessmen, or people with a voice in the public”.

He added that it was “very ambitious” to target the monarchy and that it was “absolutely unwise for a member of the royal family to allow it to be targeted”.

Security officials fear that Beijing is trying to mount a “top capture” campaign to influence the Duke of York under pressure, a tactic aimed at recruiting high-ranking people from Chinese businesses, tanks or universities.

H6 was then told that UK authorities believed he was linked to the United Front Work Department (UFWD), a branch of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with carrying out influential activities.

The decision said MI5 director-general Ken McCallum had expressed concern about the threat posed to the UK by political interference by China and that organizations such as the UFWD were “growing patient, well-funded, insidious campaigns to buy and influence”.

The Home Office said they believed H6 had carried out cover-up and deception on behalf of the CCP and that his relationship with Prince Andrew could be used for political interference.