Is the royal family a security risk?

An alleged Chinese spy who reportedly sought to gain influence in the UK by becoming a close confidant of Prince Andrew was named today as Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo.

The suspected agent, previously only identified as 'H6', was banned from the UK last week. Yang, also known as Chris Yang, appealed against his initial ban in March 2023, but the decision was upheld by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. In a published ruling, 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".

This is not the first time questions have been raised about those attempting to get access to members of the royal family. An alleged Russian spy met Prince Charles and Prince William in the late 2000s after working for MI6, the Daily Mail reported earlier this year.

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And before he became King, Prince Charles faced scrutiny over his access to confidential cabinet papers, information that was only revealed after a three-year battle under freedom of information legislation.

What did the commentators say?

The Duke of York has long been "dogged by questions about two overlapping problems – his judgement and his finances", said the BBC. The latest revelations are a reminder "of how the royals can be targeted by those wanting to build links either for their own personal ambition or for a strategic political agenda".

Prince Andrew is no longer a working royal and "operates outside the royal fold". A letter found in Yang's possession "suggests the risks of such a position", describing the prince as "in a desperate situation and will grab onto anything".

Indeed, the letter reveals just how blind Andrew is to his own "vulnerability" from a national security perspective, said The Guardian "The alarm bells didn't ring for him," constitutional law expert Craig Prescott told the paper. "He could ultimately have been put in a very, very compromised position had MI5 not raised the alarm, ultimately."

The revelations that Yang "was able to befriend Prince Andrew and enter Buckingham Palace, St James's Palace and Windsor Castle at his invitation is scarcely believable", said The Sunday Times in an editorial.

But the affair goes beyond the Duke of York's conduct and speaks to deeper issues with a royal family whose chief members "instinctively loathe transparency" and "supine" MPs who are all too willing to overlook "dubious associations and opaque finances".

What next?

Prince Andrew's office has said he has "ceased all contact" with Yang after receiving advice from the government, and claimed the two never discussed sensitive matters.

Yang today issued a statement in which he said he has "done nothing wrong or unlawful". He added: "The widespread description of me as a 'spy' is entirely untrue."

But the allegations are likely to cause some trouble for Keir Starmer and his bid to establish closer ties with Beijing. Labour MPs are "among those urging caution about the government's warmer approach to China", said The Guardian.