Investigation launched after Prince Andrew ‘invited Chinese spy’ to Buckingham Palace

London: Buckingham Palace is investigating visits made by an alleged Chinese spy to royal residences at the invitation of Prince Andrew, the London Telegraph reports.

The Chinese businessman, identified as H6, was allegedly invited to events at the palace, St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle by the Duke of York.

Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes Prince Andrew in Beijing in 2018.Credit: AP

Details of the visits emerged after a court heard that the alleged spy, described as the duke’s “close confidant”, had been banned from the UK on national security grounds.

Buckingham Palace is understood to be investigating the various occasions when H6 entered royal residences, to ascertain with whom he may have had contact.

A source said: “We are taking the appropriate steps one might expect in the circumstances.” A palace spokesman said it did not discuss security matters.

H6 was allegedly invited into Buckingham Palace twice and also attended a function at St James’s Palace and an event at Windsor Castle.

The duke has said he “ceased all contact” with the accused spy when concerns were first raised about him by the government.

The royal met H6 through “official channels” with “nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed”, a statement from his office added.

On Friday, it was revealed that the security services were investigating money given to the duke’s business venture by Chinese donors with links to H6.

The King was made aware of the MI5 investigation of his brother and his links to the alleged Chinese agent before the judgment that exposed their friendship.

H6 brought a case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission after Suella Braverman, the home secretary at the time, said he should be excluded from the UK in March 2023.

Judges were told that in a briefing for Braverman in July last year, officials claimed the man had been in a position to generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials “that could be leveraged for political interference purposes”.

They also said H6 had played down his relationship with the Chinese state which, combined with his relationship with the Duke of York, represented a threat to national security.

At a hearing in July, the specialist tribunal heard the businessman was told by Dominic Hampshire, an adviser to Prince Andrew, that he could act on the duke’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China, and that H6 had been invited to the duke’s birthday party in 2020.

A letter from Hampshire referring to the birthday party was discovered on H6’s devices when he was stopped at a port in November 2021.

In a ruling last week, Justice Bourne, Judge Stephen Smith and Sir Stewart Eldon dismissed the challenge.

The Telegraph, London

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.