Prince Andrew is once more in hot water with the Royal Family after being named as a close confidante of an alleged Chinese spy.
The Duke of York has said he “ceased all contact” with the businessman, who has been given the codename H6, and that nothing sensitive was ever discussed.
Nonetheless, the episode is said to have embarrassed the Firm and Andrew has allegedly been told to sit out the Royals’ family dinner and Christmas church service.
It is not the first time the embattled Duke has been in trouble because of his friendships and he now faces a test to repair his public image and relations with his brother, the King.
Here is what has happened.
What is the Chinese spy scandal and what has Prince Andrew been accused of in the past?
Who is H6?
H6, the identity of whom has not yet been made public, is a businessman and has been described as a “close confidante” of Andrew, attending his birthday in 2020.
It was said that the two met through “official channels” and that nothing sensitive was ever discussed.
He came to prominence in March 2023 when Suella Braverman said he should be excluded from the UK as part of a government-identified problem of Chinese infiltration in Britain.
H6 then brought a case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in July 2023, where judges were told that he had been in a position to generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials “that could be leveraged for political interference purposes”.
They also said that H6 had downplayed his relationship with the Chinese state which, combined with his relationship with Andrew, represented a threat to national security.
He was also suspected of circumventing the Duke’s private secretaries, and smuggling people unnoticed in and out of Andrew’s residence in Windsor.
After details came to light on Thursday, Andrew’s team was quick to say that official channels were followed and their friendship is now over.
What other scandals has Prince Andrew been involved in?
The Duke of York had a noted career in the Royal Navy in the 1980s and was married to Sarah Ferguson, with the pair raising princesses Eugenie and Beatrice.
However, his public image and reputation as the Queen’s favourite son began to come apart, firstly with his 1996 divorce, and then with his friendship with now disgraced financer Jeffrey Epstein. He stepped back from his role of special envoy in 2011.
Prince Andrew has had friendships with Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan, the son-in-law of Tunisian dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, and autocratic Azerbaijani ruler Ilham Aliyev. His long list of dubious acquaintances is unpacked fully here.
But the big one is his association with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of minors but controversially committed suicide in prison before being convicted. Maxwell was found guilty of sex trafficking young girls. Shortly after Epstein died in prison in 2019, Andrew (who had known the pair since the 1990s) was implicated in an illegal alleged relationship with the then-underage Virginia Giuffre.
The Duke denied any wrongdoing and settled out of court with Giuffre in 2022.
Since then, he has made fleeting public appearances but has been a thorn in the King’s side for his alleged refusal to move out of the Royal Lodge and into Frogmore Cottage.
Can I watch the Prince Andrew Newsnight interview?
In November 2019, the Duke went against Royal protocol in giving an interview. Emily Maitlis made the film for BBC Newsnight, which proved ultimately calamitous for the Royal.
Andrew revealed details of his friendship with Epstein and Maxwell and came across as unrepentant. It led to him stepping back from royal life entirely.
The full 50-minute film is available to watch on YouTube, and above.
Who plays Prince Andrew in Scoop?
The drama around the interview was such that Netflix adapted it for a film called Scoop, which premiered in April.
Prince Andrew is played by Rufus Sewell while Maitlis is played by Gillian Anderson.
Then Amazon MGM produced A Very Royal Scandal, in which Andrew is played by Michael Sheen and Maitlis by Ruth Wilson.
