Latest scandal raises fresh questions about UK’s Prince Andrew

LONDON - Revelations that a suspected Chinese spy became a confidant of Britain’s Prince Andrew have renewed scrutiny of King Charles III’s disgraced brother as he heaps new embarrassment on the royal family.

The late Queen Elizabeth II’s second, and reportedly favourite, son featured on the front pages of British newspapers for a third straight day on Dec 15

over his links to the unnamed Chinese businessman.

It is the latest humiliation for the 64-year-old whose reputation is already in tatters after settling a US sexual assault case and his friendship with accused child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Prince Andrew withdrew from front-line royal duties in late 2019 after public outrage over a disastrous television interview in which he denied the assault allegations and defended his relationship with Epstein.

Queen Elizabeth II later stripped Prince Andrew of his honorary military titles and patronages, effectively shutting him out of royal life, after he settled the US civil claim without admitting liability.

The latest scandal erupted on Dec 12 after judges upheld a government ban on the businessman, identified only as H6, from entering Britain.

The tribunal heard that the prince’s aide told the suspected spy that he could help in potential dealings with Chinese investors. H6 also received an invitation to Prince Andrew’s birthday party.

The judges said the prince’s troubles had left him “vulnerable” to exploitation, raising questions about Prince Andrew’s role as a non-working royal.

King Charles reportedly cut off his younger brother’s funding earlier in 2024, while British newspapers say he wants to move Prince Andrew out of his current home and into a smaller one.

Writing in The Sunday Times, royal expert Craig Prescott at Royal Holloway University of London said “money remains an issue for Andrew” and his “only obvious source of income is his Royal Navy pension”.

The broadsheet, quoting unnamed sources, reported that the Prince, also known as the Duke of York, was even considering moving to the Gulf permanently.

Prince Andrew’s only comments came on Dec 13 when he said he had “followed advice” from the government and “ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised”.

“The Duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed,” his office said in a statement.

The story looks set to rumble on, however, amid fears about China’s apparent ability to infiltrate the British establishment.

Clear and honest

The Sunday Times reported that H6 had also met former Conservative prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said Prince Andrew needs to be “clear and honest” over H6 and called for a “full, proper investigation” by the security services.

Lawmaker Nigel Farage says his party could use parliamentary privilege to name the individual, whose identity is protected by a court order, in the House of Commons.

Prince Andrew’s predicament is a remarkable fall from grace for the once-popular royal, who was hailed a hero when he flew as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War.

As a young man, he was seen as one of the world’s most eligible bachelors and even dubbed “Randy Andy” by the tabloid press before marrying Sarah Ferguson in 1986.

He left the navy in 2001 and became a special government trade envoy, earning a new nickname, “Air Miles Andy”, as he jetted around the world at taxpayers’ expense.

Questions were asked about his judgment after links to the families of various dictators, and he faced repeated claims of being brash, arrogant and rude.

After Prince Andrew’s divorce from his wife in 1996, he was photographed sunbathing with topless women in Thailand and at a so-called “hookers and pimps” party with now-jailed socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

It was through Maxwell, who was convicted of child sex trafficking by a New York court in 2021, that Prince Andrew met Epstein and Ms Virginia Giuffre, who claimed the prince sexually assaulted her when she was 17.

Prince Andrew has always denied the allegations.

A Sunday Times headline on Dec 15 said the Prince had become “the worst kind of distraction” for King Charles, while the Guardian has said his downfall “never seems to end”. AFP