Prince Andrew seems inevitable to avoid drama.
Strange links with alleged Chinese spies were raised in court after the judge ruled that letters of assistance from the Duke's aide had to be released. The Times reports.
Dominique Hampshire, former staff member of Andrew, was ordered to hand over the letter he wrote in support of Jan Tembo.
The letter was written by Hampshire after Tembo appealed to re-enter Britain after his ban due to his close relationship with Andrew.
Judge Charles Bourne also ruled that Andrew's commercial link to Tembo has also been revealed. The duke had previously been warned that the 50-year-old was suspected of being a spy, the court heard.
Documents must be disclosed by April 4 unless you apply for a judicial review of the judgment by March 28th, the outlet adds.
Hampshire attempted to block the release of the letter by saying it was “containing highly private, confidential and commercially sensitive information.”
The statement “It contains details about Mr Hampshire's work with Duke, which may seem embarrassing or indiscretional, but it does not induce the inference that legal obligations will be attached to them,” Judge Bourne said.
The document also included information about Andrew, already in the public domain, including “the negative impact of Duke's 2019 Newsnight Interview.”
“A substantial portion of the witness statement contains material that is not conceivable,” Judge Bourne added, adding that “it is necessary to include information communicated to Mr Hampshire based on strictly confidentiality.”
“There is a considerable public interest in the reporting of international trading activities involving British companies and the involvement of royal members in that activity,” he added.
The court heard that Hampshire told Tembo in 2021 that it could act on behalf of its involvement with potential Chinese investors.
“I hope it's clear to you where you're sitting with my principal and actually his family. You shouldn't underestimate the strength of that relationship… [the prince’s] The closest inner confidants sit at the top of the tree that many want to participate in,” he wrote in a letter from the time.
Tembo said for him the allegations against him were “completely unfounded.”
As a result, authorities banned Tembo from returning to the UK in February 2023, calling its relationship with the royal family “a serious violation of national security.”
At the time, British officials believed he was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and secretly worked in the Unified Front Work division.
Last month, it was revealed that Andrew had held a business meeting with the British Chinese ambassador just days before his alleged Chinese spy link was released.
Duke hosted Ambassador Zheng Zeguang at the Royal Lodge on December 9th and met with Middle Eastern investment company Waterberg-Stirling.
The meeting took place just three days before court documents highlighted Andrew's close relationship with Tembo.
The disgraceful royal previously invited his former business advisor to his birthday party in 2020. There, the man told Andrew that he could not act on his behalf in dealing with potential Chinese investors.
