A Chinese businessman and “close confidant” of Prince Andrew has been denied entry into the UK for national security reasons, in the latest embarrassment for the royal.
The man, known only as H6, appealed a court ruling to come to the UK, after being banned by the government in 2023. The judge heard that the Chinese national wanted to handle the duke’s investments in the country.
The government previously said that the ban was “justified and proportionate.”
Buckingham Palace declined to comment and said that Prince Andrew was not currently a working royal.
H6 was invited to Prince Andrews birthday party in 2020, which was revealed after a letter from an advisor to H6 was found, of which the Guardian reported that it read “You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship … Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.”
Reuters reported that Judge Charles Bourne said in the ruling that H6 had “won a significant degree, one could say an unusual degree, of trust from a senior member of the royal family who was prepared to enter into business activities with him.
This is not the first time the duke has found trouble with his choice of comrades. The duke stepped away from royal duties in 2020, following accusations of sexual assault and affiliations with convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
He partook in an interview with Panorama, in which he was criticised for a lack of empathy to Epstein’s Victims.
As of recent, King Charles has financially cut off his brother Prince Andrew, following the Prince’s financial struggles funding “a 30-room house”.
