Prince Andrew ‘Chinese spy' documents must be made public

Telegraph

21-03-2025

Private documents relating to the Duke of York's senior adviser and his contact with an alleged Chinese spy must be made public, a tribunal has ruled.
Dominic Hampshire, a close friend of the Duke, provided a witness statement following the exclusion of Yang Tengbo from the UK.
Mr Yang was forced to leave the country on national security grounds in March 2023 and unsuccessfully challenged the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission last year.
UK authorities have alleged that he formed an 'unusual degree of trust' with the Duke and developed relationships with politicians to be 'leveraged' by China.
Mr Yang has previously said the allegation that he is a spy is 'entirely untrue', and has denied doing anything unlawful.
At a hearing in February, media organisations, including The Telegraph, asked for the disclosure of key documents in the case, including Mr Hampshire's statement.
Three judges ruled on Friday that the witness statement, and some commercial information related to Mr Yang, could be disclosed.
'Cannot possibly be said to be confidential'
In a 25-page judgment, Mr Justice Bourne, sitting with Judge Stephen Smith and Sir Stewart Eldon, said: 'Substantial parts of the witness statement contain material which cannot possibly be said to be confidential, such as information about Mr Hampshire's background or about how he came to know Mr Yang.
'There are also comments about Mr Hampshire's work with the Duke, which might seem embarrassing or indiscreet, but they are not such as to give rise to the inference that a legal duty of confidentiality attaches to them.'
Mr Hampshire's lawyers had attempted to argue that some parts of his evidence should remain private. At the tribunal, they said he had been 'assured' by Mr Yang's lawyers that his statement would remain confidential and so did not seek his own legal advice before writing it.
Adam Wolanski KC, representing the various media outlets, said it was 'bewildering' that someone in Mr Hampshire's position had not taken any guidance from lawyers.
The judges also ruled that commercial information relating to Mr Yang's business dealings could be published. They said: 'There is substantial public interest in reporting of international trading activity involving UK companies and in any involvement of any member of the Royal family in that activity.'
Documents should be provided by April 4
Mr Yang has said he first met Prince Andrew at a dinner at St James's Palace in 2014, having been introduced to Amanda Thirsk, the Duke's private secretary, by Sir Ron Dennis, the Formula 1 executive.
He appears to have targeted the Duke through Pitch@Palace, the Dragons' Den-style initiative he launched that year, and was later appointed to lead Pitch@Palace China, launched two years later.
In March 2020, Mr Hampshire wrote to Mr Yang on Buckingham Palace headed notepaper, thanking him for standing by the Duke in the aftermath of the November 2019 Newsnight interview that saw the royal forced to step back from public duties.
He said: 'We have dealt with the aftermath of a hugely ill-advised and unsuccessful television interview, we have wisely navigated our way around former private secretaries and we have found a way to carefully remove those people who we don't completely trust.
'Moreover, in what originally seemed like a lost cause, you have somehow managed to not only salvage but maintain and then incredibly, enhance the reputation of my principal in China.'
That month, Mr Yang was invited by Mr Hampshire to the Duke's 60th birthday 'as someone who had stood by him through hard times'.
The tribunal said the documents should be provided to the press by April 4.