Did Prince Andrew cash in amid the Chinese spy scandal? | Royal Insight
The beleaguered Duke of York has somehow managed to engulf himself in yet another scandal despite his already-disgraced reputation through ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Now he is batting away allegations that he had a close involvement with the suspected foreign agent Yang Tengbo, who has been named at the heart of a spy scandal and subsequently banned from entering the UK on national security grounds.
Pressure is now mounting on the Duke to confirm whether he benefited financially from the business scheme the pair started together after their meeting almost ten years ago.
The Palace has already distanced itself from the latest scandal engulfing Prince Andrew, and it has been revealed that he will not be attending the royal family’s Christmas gathering at Sandringham this year.
The Telegraph reported that the King had hoped the Duke would do the “gentlemanly” thing to avoid having his hand forced into not attending.
But the gentlemanly route has not always been as easy with his brother – including with his housing situation this year, which has come back into the spotlight after Andrew’s relationship with Yang raised questions about how he funds his lifestyle.
A big question mark has been thrown on how the Duke can afford the upkeep of Royal Lodge in Windsor, his 30-bedroom home thought to cost millions of pounds a year to maintain.
After it was revealed that the King had cut off funding to his brother, it emerged that the Duke somehow had the funds to pay the bills himself.
But the source of these funds has never been revealed.
Now Yang has been unmasked as the founder of the Duke’s money-making venture in China, through Pitch@Palace, the Dragons’ Den-style initiative Andrew began in 2014, three years after being forced to step back as the UK’s trade envoy.
But Andrew has since insisted he had ceased all contact with the alleged spy when the British Government first raised concerns about him.
He is understood to have benefited financially from the scheme he devised with Yang, thanks to a clause that allowed him to take a 2 per cent cut of investment deals.
Pitch@Palace appears to have served as a convenient vehicle for Andrew to go back to having this jet-set lifestyle of flying around the world like he used to do as the UK’s trade envoy.
After being forced to step back from that role in 2011 following criticism for his friendship with controversial figures, starting this investment initiative meant he could keep having meetings with influential people around the world.
But were these people vetted or their intentions known?
Andrew’s status from party Prince to royal pariah in a matter of years might answer the question.
How much was Pitch@Palace costing? Who was investing in it? Why were its finances shrouded in mystery?
Ultimately the scheme, which he created to attract investment for budding entrepreneurs, allowed the Duke to plough on with one of his favourite pastimes – using the royal brand to develop business deals and relationships.
But it remains these relationships that keep landing Prince Andrew in such hot water and shredding what remains of his tattered reputation.
Yang – who was banned from entering Britain on national security grounds – is the man behind Hampton Group International, a lobbying firm with extensive links to China.
Until now, the firm and the businessman had gone largely unnoticed, but its alleged web of influence, which spans Beijing, Westminster and royal palaces, has now been disclosed.
The question is – what is next for Prince Andrew, already exiled from his family with nowhere else to turn?
