Britain’s Prince Andrew sent Chinese President Xi Jinping a letter on his birthday every year as part of a “communication channel” to support the British royal’s platform for entrepreneurs, according to court documents published on Friday.
The documents came to light following a legal challenge brought by Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo, who was described as a “close confidant” of Andrew and was banned from Britain on the grounds he was a suspected Chinese spy.
Yang, who has said that “the widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue”, is appealing against the rejection of his challenge to the decision to ban him from the country.
Documents released by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission on Friday included a witness statement provided by Dominic Hampshire, who became Andrew’s senior adviser in 2019.
Hampshire said in the statement that Andrew had regular communication with China’s Xi in relation to the prince’s Pitch@Palace initiative to encourage entrepreneurs.
“The Duke has always had a communication channel with the President, largely to support the success of Pitch@Palace in China, and this was never hidden,” Hampshire said.
