King’s relief as Duchess persuades Andrew to skip Royal celebrations

King Charles is ‘very grateful’ to Sarah Ferguson for helping convince her ex-husband to miss Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace after it was revealed he held a close relationship with a Chinese spy.

King Charles is ‘very grateful’ to Sarah Ferguson for helping convince Prince Andrew to stay away from Buckingham Palace’s Christmas celebrations following relevations he held a close relationship with a Chinese spy.

THE King is “very grateful” to Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, for her role in smoothing matters between the monarch and Andrew, the Times understands.

The Duke and Duchess of York confirmed yesterday (Wednesday) that as well as staying away from the royal family’s Christmas Day celebrations, they would not be attending a lunch at Buckingham Palace today (Thursday) for the wider family. They will spend Christmas at home in Windsor.

A palace source said: “I know that the King is very grateful to the duchess for her assistance.”

It emerged that Andrew had a close association with an alleged Chinese spy who had been banned from the UK by the Home Office on the grounds of national security. A court heard that Andrew had authorised Yang Tengbo, 50, also known as Christopher Yang, to act on his behalf while conducting business deals in China.

A letter written by Andrew’s aide Dominic Hampshire was revealed to the court in which Hampshire told the Chinese businessman: “You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship ... Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.”

On Monday, palace insiders said that Andrew should “do the decent thing” and withdraw from any public family gatherings this Christmas. They did not wish for him to be photographed alongside other members of the royal family.

Sources added they had hoped the duchess might help persuade Andrew to keep a low profile. It seems that she has done so by convincing him that a quiet Christmas away from the cameras would be the best option all round.

The duchess, who divorced Andrew in 1996 but still lives with him at Royal Lodge in Windsor, played a key role as an intermediary between the brothers.

Charles is not known to be fond of confrontation and palace insiders had hoped he would not be put in the awkward position of having to ban Andrew from family events at Christmas.

Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, pictured alongside Prince Andrew. He reportedly held an “unusual degree of trust” with the Royal. Picture: PitchatPalace/YouTube

The King was first informed of his brother’s connection to the alleged spy through “the appropriate channels”. It was a royal briefing that sparked anxiety at the Palace, with courtiers keen to prevent the King from being negatively affected by the reputational damage that might arise from Andrew’s connection. Aides are currently investigating what access the alleged spy enjoyed at Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle.

Until yesterday (Wednesday), Andrew had hoped that if he could not attend Christmas Day, he might at least be able to join the annual Christmas lunch for the wider family today (Thursday) when the King and Queen will host about 70 guests at Buckingham Palace. However, with the help of Ferguson, the King and those close to him have made it clear that this might tarnish the family’s celebrations.

When the spy scandal broke, Andrew’s office issued a statement that made clear he had “ceased all contact” with the Chinese businessman. Yang has denied spying for China, saying: “I have done nothing wrong or unlawful and the concerns raised by the Home Office against me are ill-founded. The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue.”

He was banned from entering the UK on national security grounds. His association with Andrew emerged when the 50-year-old businessman tried unsuccessfully to have the ban overturned.

Andrew left full-time royal public duties in 2019 amid public outrage over his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He no longer receives public money and in September was cut off financially by the King.

THE TIMES