A senior aide to Prince Andrew is urging a court to withhold his testimony regarding the prince’s connection to an alleged Chinese spy, arguing that he was unaware it could become public knowledge.
Dominic Hampshire, who played a pivotal role in the development of Yang Tengbo’s relationship with the Duke of York, is seeking to prevent the disclosure of his statement. However, the full details of interactions between the three men remain unclear.
Last month, a court dismissed Mr Yang’s appeal against being barred from the United Kingdom, following an intelligence assessment suggesting he could be covertly working for the Chinese state. Mr Yang has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
At the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) on Friday, lawyers representing British media organisations, including national broadcasters and newspapers, argued that Mr Hampshire could not claim the right to privacy merely because he had failed to recognise that his statement could become public.
The media groups have requested SIAC to release the witness statement, which Mr Hampshire initially provided in support of Mr Yang after British intelligence first contacted him.
In his submission, Mr Hampshire’s legal team asserted that he had sought assurances from Mr Yang’s lawyers that his statement would remain confidential. He claimed he only realised it could be disclosed when he arrived at the appeal hearing in July last year.
Upon this realisation, Mr Hampshire withdrew his statement in an effort to prevent its public release.
“I was informed that the information contained in my statement would remain private and confidential,” Mr Hampshire wrote in his submission to the court on Friday.
“If there was any possibility of this being made public, I was not made aware of it. Had I known, I would never have agreed to submit a witness statement, let alone include the level of confidential detail I did.
“I wrote candidly about my own private commercial interests and those of third parties, believing it was solely for the private attention of a senior government ministry on a serious matter.
“I would not have volunteered such details had I been aware that there was any chance, however remote, that it could be used in a forum that was, or could become, public.”
Adam Wolanski KC, representing the media organisations, contended that there was an overwhelming public interest in making Mr Hampshire’s testimony available to journalists, along with other confidential documents related to the case.
“It is extraordinary that someone in Mr Hampshire’s position, apparently entrusted with handling confidential and sensitive matters on behalf of the Duke of York, did not seek his own legal counsel before agreeing to provide a witness statement for Mr Yang,” Mr Wolanski stated in his written submissions.
“Mr Hampshire cannot now rely on his inexplicable decision to provide a witness statement in this obviously contentious matter without legal advice. He should not be allowed to benefit from his, to put it mildly, lack of foresight and his poor decision-making in proceeding without legal consultation.
“The court must proceed on the basis that he made his decision with full awareness of the potential risk that his evidence could become public.”
Mr Yang gained Prince Andrew’s trust following the Duke’s infamous interview with Newsnight in November 2019, which explored his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The fallout from that interview led to Prince Andrew stepping back from public duties and marked the end of his lucrative entrepreneur networking events in the UK and China.
In March 2020, Mr Hampshire wrote to Mr Yang, stating that he had helped restore the prince’s reputation in China.
Seven months later, Mr Yang was authorised to act on behalf of the Duke in China regarding a proposed $3 billion investment fund, known as the “Eurasia Fund.” The scheme aimed to secure investment for Chinese state projects in Africa and the Middle East, aligning with Beijing’s broader diplomatic and economic expansion strategy.
Concerns over the project and fears that Prince Andrew was being drawn into a sophisticated Chinese influence operation prompted the Home Secretary to ban Mr Yang from the UK.
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Mr Yang continues to deny any misconduct, insisting that he is a legitimate businessman who has spent decades fostering UK-China relations.
Having originally arrived in the UK as a student in 2002, Mr Yang later established multiple businesses focused on China-related travel and consultancy. He met the Duke of York in 2014 and subsequently became involved in the Chinese iteration of Prince Andrew’s “Pitch@Palace” initiative, which helps entrepreneurs secure investment.
SIAC is expected to rule in due course on whether further documents from the case will be disclosed to the public.
