Prince Andrew's top aide 'told Chinese spy BBC Newsnight interview was ill-advised'

Prince Andrew's elder adjutant Dominic Hampshire is said to person told an alleged Chinese spy with links to the Duke of York that his car clang Newsnight interrogation had been a disaster

Prince Andrew's elder aide privately admitted that his car clang BBC Newsnight interrogation had been "hugely ill-advised" to an alleged Chinese spy, according to tribunal documents.

It was much than 5 years agone that Emily Maitlis grilled the disgraced Duke of York connected his relation with convicted enactment offender Jeffrey Epstein and his spouse Ghislaine Maxwell. But the chat ended up becoming a car clang and is considered the catalyst for the downfall of Andrew, who was forced to measurement down from royal beingness and has present been stripped of his subject affiliations and patronages.

So far, Andrew has not talked astir the interrogation but caller tribunal documents from the migration lawsuit of alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, who besides had an relation with the royal, person shown that those moving for the Duke thought it was a disaster.

Douments seen by The Times show that Dominic Hampshire, Andrew's elder advisor, wrote to Mr Yang astir Andrew's erstwhile Pitch@Palace concern inaugural and said: "We person dealt with the aftermath of a hugely ill-advised and unsuccessful tv interview, we person wisely navigated our mode astir erstwhile backstage secretaries and we person recovered a mode to cautiously region those radical who we don’t wholly trust."

It comes aft Mr Yang antecedently brought a lawsuit to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) aft then-home caput Suella Braverman said helium should beryllium excluded from the UK successful March 2023. Tribunal judges were told that successful a briefing for the location caput successful July 2023, officials claimed Mr Yang had been successful a presumption to make relationships betwixt salient UK figures and elder Chinese officials “that could beryllium leveraged for governmental interference purposes”.

The erstwhile civilian servant, who was known arsenic H6 during the ineligible conflict until his anonymity was lifted successful December, became a “close” confidant of the Duke of York and has besides been pictured with elder politicians including Lord David Cameron and Baroness Theresa May.

The SIAC released documents related to Mr Yang’s lawsuit today, with the petition not opposed by the businessman. The businessman, antecedently referred to lone arsenic H6 successful the ineligible case, was the founder-partner of the Chinese limb of the duke’s Pitch@Palace initiative, and doubly visited Buckingham Palace successful 2018 to conscionable with the precocious Queen’s 2nd son. He is besides said to person entered St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle astatine Andrew’s invitation.

After their relation became known past month, Andrew decided to measurement backmost from accepted royal Christmas celebrations. The merchandise of the tribunal documents comes arsenic abstracted documents look to amusement that Andrew had been successful interaction with Epstein for longer than helium admitted.

The royal told Epstein to “keep successful adjacent touch” successful an email, with the assertion coming amid years of scrutiny being placed connected Epstein’s narration with the Duke of York. Andrew antecedently told the BBC that helium broke disconnected his relationship with the enactment offender successful December 2010 successful his Newsnight interview.

The caller assertion was made by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) successful tribunal documents for a ineligible conflict against erstwhile Barclays main enforcement Jes Staley. Mr Staley is appealing against a uncovering by the watchdog that helium gave a misleading relationship of the quality of his narration with Epstein, and denies doing so.

In an interrogation with BBC’s Newsnight, Andrew told Emily Maitlis: “I ceased interaction with him (Epstein) aft I was alert that helium was nether probe and that was aboriginal successful 2006 and I wasn’t successful interaction with him again until 2010.” He aboriginal said that successful December 2010: “I had to amusement enactment and I had to spell and spot him and I had to archer him, ‘That’s it’.”