The King, here seen with Prince Andrew in 2015, has been dragged into the Duke of York Chinese spy scandal through the release of new court documents. Photo / Getty Images
The King, here seen with Prince Andrew in 2015, has been dragged into the Duke of York Chinese spy scandal through the release of new court documents. Photo / Getty Images
King Charles was aware of an investment fund involving alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, a senior adviser claims.
Dominic Hampshire states that he and the Duke were twice smuggled into Windsor Castle for clandestine meetings with the King.
Buckingham Palace insists the King had no knowledge of Yang’s involvement, emphasising no funding was received.
A witness statement provided to an immigration tribunal by Dominic Hampshire, a senior adviser to Prince Andrew, claims the King was aware of an investment fund in which Yang Tengbo, an alleged spy, was directly involved. Hampshire states that he and the Duke were twice smuggled into Windsor Castle for clandestine meetings with the King, during which the Eurasia Fund was discussed.
The fund, which aimed to plough Chinese investment into renewable energy projects in Africa, would have provided an income for the Duke following his public fall from grace.
Sources insist that it failed to get off the ground and never traded, but it appears to have been linked to an entity called Eurasia Global Partners, incorporated as a management consultancy firm in November 2022.
Yang, who was banned from the UK on national security grounds, was a junior partner, owning just under a third of the company.
Elsewhere in the document, Hampshire reveals he had discussed such work not only with the King but with key advisers to Elizabeth II. He also claims the Duke was a key conduit to Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, and admits the Duke’s reputation was “irrecoverable” following his notorious Newsnight interview.
On Friday evening local time, Buckingham Palace insisted that the King had no knowledge of the Duke’s dealings with Yang Tengbo. Photo / Getty Images
The document states: “I have had two meetings with the Duke and His Majesty to discuss what the Duke can do moving forwards in a way that is acceptable to His Majesty. It is also of note that, amongst other topics, the Eurasia Fund and Aidan Heavey were discussed on both occasions with His Majesty. (For both these meetings with His Majesty, despite less media interest in the Duke, we took all precautions to get in and out of Windsor Castle without being seen.)”
Heavey is a former commodities trader and former chief executive of Tullow Oil, whose company owned 60% of the shares in Eurasia Global Partners.
On Friday evening local time, Buckingham Palace insisted that the King had no knowledge of the Duke’s dealings with Yang, previously identified in court documents as H6, who they said was never directly mentioned in their meetings.
A palace spokesman said: “While His Majesty met with the Duke and his adviser to hear outline proposals for independent funding over the past year, the individual known as H6 was not mentioned at any time or in any way as part of these discussions.”
Royal sources appeared to cast doubt on other claims made in the statement concerning senior figures from the royal household, suggesting that certain details did not conform with their understanding and record of events.
It is understood those made aware of the security concerns about Yang were confident they had provided clear signals about the direction of travel which went unheeded.
In Hampshire’s 10-page witness statement, he states he had discussed business dealings connected to Yang not only with the King but with Sir Edward Young, the late Queen’s private secretary, and Sir Michael Stevens, the keeper of the Privy Purse.
An attempt to seek advice from the Lord Chamberlain, then Lord Parker, former director general of MI5, was swiftly blocked, he claims.
“The Lord Chamberlain wouldn’t give me any advice and pretty much dismissed me,” he writes.
Hampshire suggests that at no point did any senior figure in the royal household suggest they sever ties with Yang or the fund, even after Yang’s arrest.
Efforts to meet with the security services to find out more and share information were also rebuffed, he claims, revealing he had to wait five months after requesting a meeting.
When it eventually took place, he says he was told there was a concern about Yang’s level of influence and the Eurasia Fund was cited.
Describing that meeting, he says: “I said ‘are you asking me to stop?’ She said, ‘no, I can’t ask you to stop. But we have genuine concerns about Chris and his influence on the Duke of York.’ That was the end of it, and I have not heard anything since.”
Yang has also used the name Chris Yang.
Hampshire tried to block the release of his statement because it contained “embarrassing” and “indiscreet” information which he said was private and “commercially sensitive”.
However, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission approved an application by publications including the Telegraph for a secrecy order preventing the release of the statement and other documents to be lifted in the public interest.
Yang has been described in previous court documents as a “close confidant” of the Duke. Photo / Getty Images
The witness statement was provided by Hampshire in support of Yang, who has been described in previous court documents as a “close confidant” of the Duke.
It states that both he and Prince Andrew “genuinely trusted” the Chinese businessman and that there had “never been one single red flag”.
Yang was suspected of being associated with a controversial arm of the Chinese state known as the United Front Work Department, which seeks to befriend high-profile figures and shape narratives about China.
Yang was first detained by police in November 2021, when he surrendered his devices, including his mobile phone.
Officials quickly discovered how close he had become to the Duke.
Previously released court documents revealed that in March 2020, Hampshire had sent him a letter that referred to Yang being invited to the Duke’s birthday party the previous month.
It 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 [the Duke’s] closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.”
It described how they had managed to “navigate” around former private secretaries and “get the relevant people unnoticed in and out of the house in Windsor”.
Seven months later, in October 2020, Hampshire gave Yang carte blanche to act on the Duke’s behalf in seeking Chinese investment.
In February 2023, Yang was “off-boarded” from a flight from Beijing to London and told he would be banned from the UK because of suspicions that he was an agent for the Chinese state. That decision was confirmed the following month.
Hampshire has been in the Duke’s orbit for decades
Hampshire, a former equerry to the Duke of Kent, has been in the Duke’s orbit for decades. He shares the Duke’s passion for golf and for many years ran a junior golf tournament set up in the Duke’s name.
When the Duke was effectively sacked as a working member of the royal family in November 2019 following the disastrous Newsnight interview about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, it was Hampshire who took him under his wing and helped to lay the groundwork for future business initiatives.
He was the sole director of Lincelles, said to have been a trust fund for the Duke’s two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, which was incorporated in 2020 as an unlimited company, meaning it would not be required to file accounts with Companies House and could avoid disclosing its profits or income.
The company, of which the Duke controlled 75%, was abandoned after the Duke was advised that while such ventures were fairly standard for ultra-high net worth individuals, it was not appropriate for a member of the royal family.
Both the Duke and Hampshire had worked with Yang for several years, appointing him to lead Pitch@Palace China, the Chinese arm of the Duke’s Dragons’ Den-style initiative, in 2016.
When they were forced to shut down the charitable arm, the trio sought to revive the commercial arm of Pitch under the name Innovate Global.
Hampshire and Yang were also both closely involved in the establishment of the Eurasia Fund. It was considered a vehicle for the Duke – and others – to make money, in a market where as a former trade envoy he would be able to “open doors”.
It was deemed a good fit for the Duke, who had long harboured a genuine interest in tech, a subject about which he had become knowledgeable. Crucially, renewable energy was seen as largely uncontroversial and could give the beleaguered Duke a new purpose.
Documents show that Yang’s company, Hampton Group, owns 30% of shares in Eurasia Global Partners, while Hampshire’s consultancy firm owns 10% and the remaining 60% are owned by a company called Albe Global Partners, run by Heavey.
The security services appear to have been concerned about the scheme because of the potential involvement of the Duke in expanding the Chinese Government’s influence around the world.
Although the Duke was said to have stepped back from the fund when made aware of the concerns surrounding Yang, the others ploughed on.
In October 2023, Heavey attended a Belt and Road Forum in Beijing as chairman of the Eurasia Fund, apparently seeking to drum up investment.
He said the forum was “a great showcase for Chinese business”, suggesting its renewable energy technologies and companies were what “the rest of the world needs”.
Meanwhile, the Duke was facing the threat of eviction from his home, Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park.
The King wanted the Duke to vacate the 30-room Grade-II listed house, which he had moved into following the death of the Queen Mother in 2002, taking on a 75-year lease.
But the deal gave him full responsibility for the refurbishment costs of the historic building, understood to be vast, and his brother wanted him out.
Efforts to smoke him out last year by cutting off his personal allowance proved fruitless as the Duke insisted he had independent income.
One such deal, as outlined to senior palace officials in a meeting last summer, involved a commercial partnership with a Dutch company called StartUp Boot Camp, effectively selling contacts and networks made through Pitch@Palace.
The Home Office banned Yang from the UK after MI5 deemed him to be an agent who had engaged in “covert and deceptive activity” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party and who posed a threat to national security.
Yang, who has always protested his innocence, challenged the ruling but a special immigration commission ruled that Suella Braverman, the home secretary at the time, was justified in her decision to ban him from the UK.
In a statement on Friday, Hampshire said: “I left the royal household in 2022, and I now no longer provide advice – formally or informally – to the Duke of York.
“The desire to keep my witness statement out of the media was solely to protect the confidential interactions I had with Buckingham Palace and the intelligence services.
“The palace was kept informed of all my commercial endeavours on behalf of the Duke of York, and full disclosure of all communications with Mr Yang, the Hampton Group and China was offered to both Buckingham Palace and the intelligence services. At all times, I sought to protect the best interests of the royal family with integrity and loyalty.
“For the record, as soon as the Duke of York was advised to cease all contact with Mr Yang, he fully complied. He did not receive a penny in funding or support, directly or indirectly, from any Chinese individual or entity. In my personal business capacity, I continued dealings with the Hampton Group in China – which is not sanctioned – and, in accordance with current UK policy, doing business in China and with Chinese individuals is entirely legitimate.
“I am now a private businessman and none of my business interests are connected to any member of the royal family.”
