Latest news with #Tengbo
NBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Focus on Prince Andrew intensifies with new book's revelations about Epstein ties
LONDON — A new book touting explosive revelations about the life of Britain's Prince Andrew has left the embattled duke facing a renewed wave of damaging headlines. The unauthorized biography, "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York" by Andrew Lownie, was published Thursday. It centers on Andrew's relationship with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, and covers his finances and dealings with foreign governments, as well as the timeline of his ties with Jeffrey Epstein — the late financier and convicted sex offender who has been the subject of fervent attention in both Britain and the United States in recent weeks. NBC royal contributor Daisy McAndrew said Thursday that the good news for Andrew and the royal family may be that the impact of this renewed focus will be blunted by the reality that his reputation is already at 'rock bottom.' 'It's possible other people might well be taking some of the heat off Andrew,' she said, referring to politicians in the U.S. Publisher HarperCollins says Lownie, a historian, drew on four years of research and interviews with more than 100 people who haven't spoken before in writing the 448-page book. The majority spoke on the condition of anonymity. Excerpts have been splashed across Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, and a poll released this week found that two-thirds of Britons want the disgraced younger brother of King Charles III to be stripped of his remaining royal titles. An earlier YouGov survey found Andrew remains by far the most unpopular royal, with just 5% of respondents saying they held a positive view of him. Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, formerly known as Meghan Markle, was one place above Andrew, at 20%, with heir to the throne Prince William topping the rankings on 74%. A representative for Andrew and Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment about both the book and the polling. Andrew returned his military affiliations and royal patronages in January 2022 after his lawyers failed to persuade a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of sexual abuse. He later paid a substantial sum to Virginia Giuffre, who alleged that Andrew sexually abused her when she was 17. Andrew has repeatedly denied the allegation. Giuffre died by suicide in April this year, with her family saying in a statement that 'the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.' In December 2024, Andrew was caught up in an alleged spying case after cultivating an 'unusual degree of trust' with a Chinese man who was barred from the U.K. on national security grounds. Britain's High Court ruled that Andrew had been 'prepared to enter into business activities' with Yang Tengbo as it lifted an anonymity order protecting Tengbo's identity. Tengbo had been subjected to the highest levels of national security investigation in the U.K. Other royals have rarely appeared in public with Andrew since his fall from grace. His public standing has remained little changed since a disastrous interview about his ties to Epstein on the BBC's 'Newsnight' program in November 2019. Despite this simmering anger and growing pressure, McAndrew said she doesn't think the king will take the drastic step of removing Andrew's royal titles. But, she said, William might act differently when he ascends the throne. "He's much less sentimental as a personality. And the royal family (and future monarch peculiarly) ultimately must exist to protect the monarchy," she said. The royal family will have to consider whether taking new action against Andrew could run the risk of him retaliating publicly. They may feel it is better, McAndrew said, "to let sleeping dogs lie."
The Independent
31-01-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Prince Andrew's Newsnight interview was disaster, aide told alleged Chinese spy
Prince Andrew' s aide admitted to an alleged Chinese spy who was the dukes 'close confidant' that his notorious 2019 BBC Newsnight interview was 'hugely ill-advised and unsuccessful'. The duke's senior adviser, Dominic Hampshire, privately admitted to Yang Tengbo - who has been barred from the UK on national security grounds - that his interview with Emily Maitlis was a disaster. Andrew's sit-down interview with the BBC journalist accelerated his fall from grace. He was questioned about claims made by Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was coerced into having sex with him when she was just 17 and his ties to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Four days after it aired, Andrew stepped down from public duties. He has since refused to speak about the interview, but his aide did write to Mr Tengbo about the programme. In court documents seen by the BBC, Mr Hampshire told Mr Tengbo in March 2020 that 'outside of [Andrew's] closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on'. '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,' Mr Hampshire wrote on official Buckingham Palace notepaper. He added: '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.' In December, it emerged Mr Tengbo had been barred from entering the UK because authorities felt he was likely to pose a threat to national security. He is said to have twice visited the royal residence at the invitation of the King's younger brother and was described as a 'close confidante' of Andrew. British authorities allege the businessman - who helped the duke expand his 'Pitch@Palace' entrepreneur programme into China - was working on behalf of the United Front Work Department, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party that is used to influence foreign entities. He was banned from returning to the UK in February 2023 and in December last year he was banned from returning to the UK in February 2023 on national security grounds. His appeal to the Special Immigration Appeals Tribunal was rejected. Hundreds of pages of documents considered by the tribunal - including the exchange with Mr Hampshire - were released on Friday. In his tribunal statement, Mr Tengbo said establishing Pitch@Palace was 'extremely difficult' and added: 'After Prince Andrew's interview with Emily Maitlis in November 2019, everything changed.' Andrew was criticised for the car crash BBC Newsnight interview after it aired on 16 November 2019. During the interview, he denied he slept with Ms Giuffre, saying an encounter could not have taken place because he was at a branch of Pizza Express in Woking with his daughter Princess Beatrice. He also said Ms Giuffre's claim he was sweaty at a nightclub was untrue because an 'overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands war' had left him unable to sweat. Four days later, Andrew stepped back from public duties and in January 2022, he was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages after a US judge allowed Ms Giuffre's civil sexual abuse claim to move to trial. In March 2022, Andrew paid Ms Giuffre a multi-million-pound out-of-court settlement, meaning both sides avoided the case going to trial, without admitting liability. The disclosure on Friday comes on the same day separate court documents revealed Prince Andrew appeared to have been in touch with Epstein two months after he claims to have ended contact with the convicted paedophile. Emails between Andrew and Epstein handed to a court in London reportedly show they were still exchanging messages until at least late February 2011, when the duke wrote: 'Keep in close touch and we'll play some more soon.'
