Revelations Prince Andrew had a close relationship with a man accused of being a Chinese spy have been branded “extremely embarrassing” by a former security minister.
The businessman, known only as H6, has lost an appeal over a decision to bar him from entering the UK on national security grounds.
He brought a case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) after then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman said he should be excluded from the UK in March 2023.
Asked whether the Duke of York’s advisers should have been aware of H6, Tory MP and ex-security minister Tom Tugendhat said: “It’s not immediately obvious, it could be someone who’s British who’s working in China and who’s come under the influence, so it’s not quite as black and white as it may first appear – but it’s certainly extremely embarrassing.
“It demonstrates I’m afraid that the Chinese state is extremely clear that what its ambition is is to secure influence over foreign countries.
“They always talk about no interference in other people’s business when people talk about human rights in China, but they do nothing but interfere in the UK and in many countries across the world.”
Judges were told that in a briefing for the Home Secretary in July 2023, officials claimed H6 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 that H6 had downplayed his relationship with the Chinese state, which combined with his relationship with Andrew, represented a threat to national security.
At a hearing in July, the specialist tribunal heard that the businessman was told by an adviser to Andrew that he could act on the duke’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China, and that H6 had been invited to Andrew’s birthday party in 2020.
A letter referencing the birthday party from the adviser, Dominic Hampshire, was discovered on H6’s devices when he was stopped at a port in November 2021.
The letter also said: “I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal and indeed his family.
“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.”
In a ruling on Thursday, Mr Justice Bourne, Judge Stephen Smith and Sir Stewart Eldon, dismissed the challenge.
The judges said: “The Secretary of State was entitled to conclude that the applicant represented a risk to the national security of the United Kingdom, and that she was entitled to conclude that his exclusion was justified and proportionate.”
