Prince Andrew pulls out of royal family's pre-Christmas lunch amid Chinese 'spy' scandal

18 December 2024, 14:02 | Updated: 18 December 2024, 14:19

King George Day At Ascot Races
Prince Andrew has pulled out of the royal family's traditional pre-Christmas lunch. Picture: Getty

By Flaminia Luck

The Duke of York has pulled out of the royal family's traditional pre-Christmas lunch as he continues to be dogged by his links to an alleged Chinese spy.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Andrew has decided not to attend the gathering at Buckingham Palace on Thursday after speaking to his ex-wife and close friend Sarah, Duchess of York, according to a source.

The move is another embarrassing moment for the King's brother, who has already withdrawn from joining senior royals at Sandringham for the festive period.

The Buckingham Palace lunch is a private event for senior royals and their wider family who will not be attending Christmas celebrations at Charles's Sandringham home.

Earlier this week, it was revealed in a High Court hearing that alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, who was banned from the UK, was said to have been a "close" confidant of Andrew.

Yang Tengbo
Prince Andrew alongside Yang Tengbo. Picture: Business council

Mr Yang, who was named after an anonymity order was lifted on Monday, has insisted it was "entirely untrue" to claim he was involved in espionage and that he has "done nothing wrong or unlawful".

The businessman, previously referred to only as H6 in the legal case, was the founder-partner of the Chinese arm of the duke's Pitch@Palace initiative, and twice visited Buckingham Palace in 2018 to meet with the late Queen's second son.

Read more: Festive train misery as Avanti West Coast staff to strike on New Year's Eve and several other January dates

Read more: Police 'failed to spot warning signs of mass riots' sparked by Southport dance class killings, watchdog finds

He is also said to have entered St James's Palace and Windsor Castle at Andrew's invitation.

On Friday, the duke's office said Andrew "ceased all contact" with the then-unnamed businessman when concerns were first raised about him.

Andrew met Mr Yang through "official channels" with "nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed", a statement said.

"I have done nothing wrong or unlawful and the concerns raised by the Home Office against me are ill-founded. The widespread description of me as a &squot;spy&squot; is entirely untrue," Mr Tengbo continued
The “spy” had only been known publicly as "H6" after a court-imposed anonymity order. Picture: Social media

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Dorothy Chiles

Great-grandmother, 87, pictured for first time after deadly train station attack, as woman in her 20s arrested

President Donald Trump speaks on Wednesday night

Trump says 'the US wants its money back on Ukraine' as he makes plans to meet Putin and end war

Exclusive
Katie Amess has spoken out about the need for an inquiry into her father's murder by an Islamist terrorist

Daughter of Sir David Amess, MP murdered by Islamist terrorist, ‘made to sign NDA’ on report into father’s death

Exclusive
Angela Rayner reveals she took advice from NHS trauma specialists ahead of Grenfell demolition meeting

Angela Rayner reveals she took advice from NHS trauma specialists ahead of Grenfell demolition meeting

Italian F1 Grand Prix - Previews

Nightclub bouncer behind £12m plot to reveal Formula One star Michael Schumacher's health secrets jailed

Josef Fritzl

Incest monster Josef Fritzl could walk free from prison next year - and expects 'cheering crowds' to greet him

Ofsted's Chief Inspector Sir Martyn Oliver supports an extension to term times

'Time to think about school holidays': Ofsted's Chief Inspector supports extending term times

Exclusive
Angela Rayner insisted that British support for Ukraine was 'unwavering'

Rayner insists UK support for Ukraine 'unwavering' despite Trump's plan for 'immediate' peace talks with Putin

Prince William, President of BAFTA, operates a film camera as he visits the London Screen Academy in London, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Pool)

William tries his hand at being a cameraman on visit to London film academy

President Donald J. Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during the G20 Japan Summit Friday, June 28, 2019, in Osaka, Japan.

Trump and Putin 'to meet in Saudi Arabia' and 'start negotiations immediately' to end war in Ukraine

Street scene in Peckham, London, with red bus

Bus driver, 76, found guilty of killing passenger who was run over while attempting to board vehicle

Norward Road, Lambeth, the proposed LTN.

Council staff given 'wellbeing day' after attending 'stormy' neighbourhood meeting

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, shakes hands with Britain's Defense Secretary John Healey prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Feb.

Ukraine's NATO membership plans 'unrealistic' says US - as defence secretary claims US troops won't be peacekeepers

Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire

Officer accused of pinning down and trying to kiss soldier, 19, had been 'waiting for moment for them to be alone'

A public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks will begin 'within weeks'

Public inquiry into Nottingham attacks will begin 'within weeks', PM tells victims' families

Paul Allen.

Cagefighter guilty of Britain's largest cash robbery shot in neck in his kitchen in murder plot