Prince Andrew sure knows how to pick his friends. The son of the late Queen Elizabeth II came under scrutiny a while back due to his close connection with Jeffrey Epstein — now it’s been revealed that another one of his close allies is suspected of being a Chinese spy.
The man, known only as “H6,” allegedly formed an unusual degree of trust with Andrew, even being invited to the prince’s birthday party back in 2020, according to an article from the BBC. Not only that, but H6 was told that he could act on the Duke of York’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China. Clearly, there was a high level of trust between Andrew and this mysterious man — he’s even been described as a “close confidant.”
Prince Andrew’s friend will not be able to re-enter the U.K.
This week it was decided by a court that H6 would not be allowed back into the U.K. over national security concerns. The man was initially banned from the country back in March 2023. Although he appealed the judgment, the court ultimately decided to uphold its decision.
Andrew’s friend was subjected to a high-level investigation from U.K. intelligence agencies after he was stopped and questioned by police at the U.K. border in November 2021. H6 surrendered his phone among other electronic devices — what was discovered on them was deemed concerning enough to ban him from the country. Letters found on one of the devices seemed to imply something fishy was definitely going on.
“Outside of [the prince’s] closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on… Under your guidance, we found a way to get the relevant people unnoticed in and out of the house in Windsor.”
There is no confirmation on who these “relevant people” are that the letter refers to, but it was feared that the anonymous man was attempting to gain influence over a member of the Royal Family. In the recent ruling regarding the appeal filed last year, the judge said the Home Secretary at the time, Suella Braverman, was entitled to conclude that H6 indeed proposed a security risk.
Buckingham Palace has already distanced itself from Prince Andrew after the Epstein drama, but it declined to comment on the H6 matter, only iterating the point that Andrew is not a working royal. In other words, “he’s got nothing to do with us.” The Duke of York’s estrangement from his family, particularly his brother, is nothing new. Charles and Andrew recently had a falling out over the royal lodge. This is just another reason not to invite him to Christmas dinner at the palace, I suppose.
Did Prince Andrew know?
It’s difficult to say exactly how close the prince was with this unknown character, but former security minister Tom Tugendhat called Andrew’s association with H6 “extremely embarrassing.” Speaking with the BBC, Tugendhat claimed that the Chinese state is trying “to secure influence over foreign countries at various different points.” It seems like Home Office was pretty sure that’s what this guy was up to. Hopefully, Andrew didn’t spill too much royal tea.