Prince Andrews aide must release letter to suspected Chinese spy, court rules

Prince Andrew just can’t seem to avoid drama.The disgraced Duke of York’s links to a suspected Chinese spy were brought up in court after a judge ruled that a letter of support from the duke’s aide must be released, the Times reports.Dominic Hampshire, Andrew’s former staffer, has been ordered to hand over a letter he wrote in support of Yang Tengbo — the former working royal’s business adviser who has been accused of being a Chinese spy.The letter was written by Hampshire after Tengbo appealed to re-enter the UK following his ban due to his close relationship with Andrew.Judge Charles Bourne has also ruled that Andrew’s commercial links to Tengbo be disclosed, given that the duke was previously warned that the 50-year-old was a suspected spy, the court heard.The documents must be disclosed by April 4 unless any party applies for judicial review of the judgment by March 28, the outlet adds.Hampshire attempted to block the letter’s release, saying it contains “highly private, confidential and commercially sensitive information,” the court heard.The statement included details “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,” Bourne said.Documents also contained information about Andrew that were already in the public domain, including “the negative impact of the duke’s 2019 Newsnight interview.”“Substantial parts of the witness statement contain material which cannot possibly be said to be confidential,” Bourne said, adding that two words in the statement should be redacted as they “contain information which must have been imparted to Mr.Hampshire on the basis that it would be kept strictly confidential.”“There is a 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 ac...