Andrew's aide told alleged spy Newsnight interview was a disaster

A senior aide to Prince Andrew privately admitted to an alleged Chinese spy that the duke's BBC Newsnight interview had been a disaster, court documents show.

Files disclosed to the BBC and other media organisations reveal how the prince's aide Dominic Hampshire thanked Yang Tengbo for standing by the embattled duke in the months after he had sought to explain on TV his friendship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He told the Chinese businessman that the Newsnight appearance had been "hugely ill-advised and unsuccessful".

Last month a court rejected Mr Yang's appeal against being banned from the UK, after an intelligence assessment that he could be secretly working for the Chinese state. Mr Yang has denied all wrongdoing.

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