King Charles has been dragged into Prince Andrew's Chinese spy scandal, reportedly leaving the monarch "extremely frustrated" with his brother.
The King is said to be exasperated that the Duke of York has "once more caused embarrassment for the monarchy" following revelations in newly released court documents.
Court documents have revealed that the King was allegedly aware of an investment fund in which Yang Tengbo, an alleged Chinese spy, was directly involved.
A witness statement provided by Dominic Hampshire, a senior adviser to Prince Andrew, claims the Duke was seeking Chinese investment through the Eurasia Fund.
Royal commentator Rafe Heydel-Mankoo told GB News: "I'm sure the King and the royal household will be extremely frustrated that yet again.
"The brother has once more caused embarrassment for for the monarchy. Look, this is a very complicated story."
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He added: "Prince Andrew, of course, had retreated from public life and was no longer a working royal and therefore no longer receiving public funding. And as there was no way back for him into the Royal family."
"Questions were raised as to how he was going to fund his lifestyle. As we know, the cost of living at Royal Lodge is very expensive.
"The King was paying privately for the security for Prince Andrew. I wanted to stop spending such a huge amount on that.
"And that meant that the prince would either have to leave Royal Lodge or find alternative income sources. And he said, well, I do have alternative income sources potentially in the pipeline.
"Now, any royal who seeks to do that has to get approval from the king and the Royal Family.
"That's why they they held these two meetings to make sure that these new funds were actually suitable. Now, these are being described as secret meetings or clandestine.
"In reality, they were simply, I would say, very private meetings. There's no skulduggery going on here."
The fund aimed to direct Chinese investment into renewable energy projects in Africa and would have provided an income for the Duke following his public fall from grace.
Sources insist the fund failed to get off the ground and never traded. Yang was banned from the UK on national security grounds last year.
Hampshire states in his witness statement that he and the Duke were twice smuggled into Windsor Castle for clandestine meetings with the King.
During these secretive encounters, the Eurasia Fund and businessman Aidan Heavey were reportedly discussed with His Majesty.
"While His Majesty met with the Duke and his adviser to hear outline proposals for independent funding over the past year, the individual known as H6 was not mentioned at any time or in any way as part of these discussions," the Palace stated.
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The King is said to be exasperated that the Duke of York has "once more caused embarrassment for the monarchy" following revelations in newly released court documents.
Court documents have revealed that the King was allegedly aware of an investment fund in which Yang Tengbo, an alleged Chinese spy, was directly involved.
A witness statement provided by Dominic Hampshire, a senior adviser to Prince Andrew, claims the Duke was seeking Chinese investment through the Eurasia Fund.
Royal commentator Rafe Heydel-Mankoo told GB News: "I'm sure the King and the royal household will be extremely frustrated that yet again.
"The brother has once more caused embarrassment for for the monarchy. Look, this is a very complicated story."
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He added: "Prince Andrew, of course, had retreated from public life and was no longer a working royal and therefore no longer receiving public funding. And as there was no way back for him into the Royal family."
"Questions were raised as to how he was going to fund his lifestyle. As we know, the cost of living at Royal Lodge is very expensive.
"The King was paying privately for the security for Prince Andrew. I wanted to stop spending such a huge amount on that.
"And that meant that the prince would either have to leave Royal Lodge or find alternative income sources. And he said, well, I do have alternative income sources potentially in the pipeline.
"Now, any royal who seeks to do that has to get approval from the king and the Royal Family.
"That's why they they held these two meetings to make sure that these new funds were actually suitable. Now, these are being described as secret meetings or clandestine.
"In reality, they were simply, I would say, very private meetings. There's no skulduggery going on here."
The fund aimed to direct Chinese investment into renewable energy projects in Africa and would have provided an income for the Duke following his public fall from grace.
Sources insist the fund failed to get off the ground and never traded. Yang was banned from the UK on national security grounds last year.
Hampshire states in his witness statement that he and the Duke were twice smuggled into Windsor Castle for clandestine meetings with the King.
During these secretive encounters, the Eurasia Fund and businessman Aidan Heavey were reportedly discussed with His Majesty.
"While His Majesty met with the Duke and his adviser to hear outline proposals for independent funding over the past year, the individual known as H6 was not mentioned at any time or in any way as part of these discussions," the Palace stated.
Find Out More...