A CHINESE businessman described as a “close confidant” of Prince Andrew is to be banned from the UK after losing an appeal against a Home Office decision.
The man, known only as H6, brought the case after being banned from entering the UK in March 2023 on national security grounds.
Judges heard the businessman had formed a close working relationship with Prince Andrew, receiving an invite to his birthday party in 2020 and being told he could act on his behalf when dealing with potential investors in China.
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment, saying Prince Andrew is not a working royal.
H6 brought his case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a court set up to consider appeals against decisions to ban or remove someone from the country on national security or related grounds.
The judge said that the then-home secretary, Suella Braverman, was "entitled to conclude that [H6] represented a risk to the national security of the United Kingdom, and that she was entitled to conclude that his exclusion was justified and proportionate".
The hearing found H6 surrendered a number of electronic devices, including a mobile phone, after being stopped by UK border security in November 2021.
In a letter found on one of his electronic devices, the adviser told him: "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."
It adds: "Under your guidance, we found a way to get the relevant people unnoticed in and out of the house in Windsor."
A document listing "main talking points" for a call with Prince Andrew was also found.
It states: "IMPORTANT: Manage expectations. Really important to not set 'too high' expectation — he is in a desperate situation and will grab onto anything."
In another letter detailed in the ruling, the adviser confirmed to H6 that he could act on behalf of the prince in engagements with potential partners and investors in China.
The court assessed that this meant H6 was in a position "to generate relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent UK figures which could be leveraged for political interference purposes by the Chinese State".
H6 was subsequently informed that he was believed to be associated with the United Front Work Department (UFWD), an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with conducting influence operations.
The ruling said MI5 had expressed concern about the threat posed to the UK by political interference by China and that bodies such as the UFWD were "mounting patient, well-funded, deceptive campaigns to buy and exert influence".
The Home Office said they believed H6 had been engaged in covert and deceptive activity on behalf of the CCP and that his relationship with Prince Andrew could be used for political interference.
Upholding Braverman’s decision, the judges said H6 had won an "unusual degree of trust from a senior member of the Royal Family who was prepared to enter into business activities with him".
In November 2019, Prince Andrew stepped back from royal duties amid growing public anger about his friendship with the late US financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
