Prince Andrew's 'close confidant' barred from entering UK over national security fears and links to China

Known as H6, the man was invited to the royal's birthday party in 2020, and was told by Andrew's aide Dominic Hampshire that he could help in potential dealings with Chinese investors.

He was first excluded from entering the country in 2023 over national security fears by Suella Braverman, who was then home secretary.

In July that year, the Home Office said H6 was considered to have engaged in "covert and deceptive activity" on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

H6 argued it was unlawful and made an appeal to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Judges upheld the ban on H6 entering the country on Thursday, arguing the Duke of York could have been made "vulnerable" by his influence.

The specialist tribunal in London heard a March 2020 letter from Mr Hampshire - referencing the invitation to the duke's birthday - was found on H6's devices when he was stopped at a port in November 2021.

The adviser said in the letter: "I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal (Prince Andrew) and indeed his family.

"You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship… Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on."

This raises yet more uncomfortable and embarrassing questions for Prince Andrew.

And prompts very serious concerns about whether the Duke of York created a threat to national security by his "close" association with an alleged Chinese spy.

Official court documents state the relationship between the two had a "convert and clandestine" element.

We know the individual acted as Prince Andrew's business adviser, was invited to his birthday party, and more importantly, won an "unusual" degree of trust from someone who was a senior member of the Royal Family.

There is now further pressure to uncover the full extent of the pair's association, and whether it continued after Andrew was forced to step down from his government role.

Andrew's role as a 'special representative' for trade began in 2001, but ended after his connections with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were exposed.

The court papers now suggest the pressures on him at the time could have made him vulnerable to abuse.

After his fall from grace, and removal as a working royal, there has been much speculation about Prince Andrew's wealth and his ability to pay for the upkeep of his large Windsor home, Royal Lodge, which requires significant and expensive repairs.

Andrew is now facing even more scrutiny. And even more questions about the people he surrounded himself with.

The 53-page ruling also referred to a 2021 document recovered from a device which listed talking points for a call between H6 and Andrew which said the prince "is in a desperate situation and will grab onto anything".

Judge Charles Bourne, Judge Stephen Smith and Sir Stewart Eldon said in their ruling that Ms Braverman "was entitled to conclude that his exclusion was justified and proportionate".

They noted that documents on his phone suggested H6 had "deliberately obscured his links" with the CCP and the United Front Work Department - a network of Chinese groups that operate abroad.

The judges added H6 had been able to generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials, which could then be leveraged by the country's government.

Mr Justice Bourne also said that H6 had "won a significant degree, one could say an unusual degree, of trust from a senior member of the Royal Family who was prepared to enter into business activities with him".

He added: "That occurred in a context where, as the contemporaneous documents record, the duke was under considerable pressure and could be expected to value (H6's) loyal support.

"It is obvious that the pressures on the duke could make him vulnerable to the misuse of that sort of influence."

-SKY NEWS