There is no way for Charles III to remove that stone called Andrés from his shoe. As if there were few personal conflicts between the two, now one more scandal appears that already transcends the private sphere to become a matter of national securitysince it turns out that the content of an investigation opened by the appointment as advisor to the monarch’s brother of a man who was actually a chinese spy.
Carlos III no longer knows what to do with the Prince. He has withdrawn his annual allowance and He has even tried to throw him out of his residence, but the only thing he has achieved is a nervous twitch in one eye every time his brother’s name is mentioned. Although the new thing is already a qualitative leap, since it threatens the security of an entire country.
According to the BBC, “a Chinese businessman, described as a close confidant of the Duke of York, has lost an appeal against the decision to ban him from entering the UK for reasons of national security. The man, known simply as H6, filed the case after he was banned from entering the country in March 2023.
This medium tells how the judges heard that the businessman had formed a close working relationship with Prince Andrewreceived an invitation to his birthday party in 2020 and was even told he could act on his behalf when dealing with potential investors in China. As expected, Buckingham Palace has refused to comment and distanced itself from any link by simply saying that the royal family does not act on behalf of the prince because he is not a working royal.
“His exclusion was justified”
The story is that H6 took his case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a court set up to consider appeals against decisions to ban or remove someone from the country on national security or related grounds. In the published ruling, the judge said then-Interior Secretary Suella Braverman was “entitled to conclude that (H6) represented an risk to UK national security and that its exclusion was justified.
The hearing confirmed that H6 handed over a number of electronic devices, including a mobile phone, after he was stopped by UK border security in November 2021. “At your direction, we found a way for relevant people to enter and exit Windsor House without them realizing it,” they confirmed.
The court assessed that H6 was in a position of «generate relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent figures in the United Kingdom who could be exploited for political interference by the Chinese state. The ruling stated that MI5 had expressed concern about the threat posed to the UK by China’s political interference and that bodies such as the United Front Work Department were “mounting patient, well-funded and deceptive campaigns to buy and influence».
A document was also found listing the “main talking points” of a call with Prince Andrew. It stated: “IMPORTANT: Manage expectations. It is very important not to set expectations ‘too high’: He is in a desperate situation and will cling to anything».
“An unusual degree of trust”
The court assessed that H6 was in a position to “generate relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent UK figures that could be exploited for the purposes of political interference by the Chinese State.
The Home Office said it believed H6 had been involved in covert and deceptive activities on behalf of the Communist Party and that his relationship with Prince Andrew could be used to exert political influence. In upholding Braverman’s decision, the judges said that H6 had gained an “unusual degree of confidence from a senior member of the royal family that he was willing to enter into commercial activities with him.
At the time, they added that the relationship had developed at a time when the prince was “under considerable pressure» that «could make him vulnerable to the misuse of that type of influence». It is worth remembering that in November 2019, Prince Andrew retired from royal duties amid growing public and private anger over his friendship with the American Jeffrey Epstein.
Thousands of questions would later arise about his finances after he settled – believed to be in the millions – in a civil sexual assault case brought against him by Virginia Giuffreone of Epstein’s accusers.
The prince has always denied the facts, but he does not seem to have convinced the most powerful members of the family, and in particular his brother Carlos, who had cut off his financial supply stopping paying for the security of his house and withdrawing his personal allowance.
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