Prince Andrew met with ‘Chinese spymaster and spy’ during overseas trip

Prince Andrew met with two alleged Chinese spies during a meeting for his start-up business network, a report has claimed.

The disgraced former duke reportedly met with Cai Qi – a senior Beijing official described as a ‘spymaster’ – and a ‘Chinese spy’ since banned from the UK, Yang Tengbo, in 2019.

According to The Telegraph, Andrew met with the pair during a nine-day visit to promote his now-defunct Pitch@Palace initiative.

Cai, the first-ranked member of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), praised the Dragons’ Den-style pitching competition.

This was the third time the two had met, the Chinese government said in a post: ‘Cai Qi met with Prince Andrew in May of last year during a goodwill visit to the UK led by a Chinese Communist Party delegation.

‘Cai Qi met with Prince Andrew again in Beijing in June during Prince Andrew’s visit to China.’

Qi is accused of helping to mastermind an intelligence-gathering operation to steal UK secrets, overseeing the alleged activities of parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash, 30, and English teacher Christopher Berry, 33.

Both men deny wrongdoing, and a case against them collapsed on the eve of trial last month after the government refused to label China an ‘enemy’.

The disgraced royal was photographed with Yang during a Pitch@Palace China bootcamp at Peking University in Shenzhen two days later, a post on the Royal Family website shows.

It states: ‘His Royal Highness also attended the opening of the 17th Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP), which is China’s only conference geared towards international organisations.

‘His Royal Highness toured the exhibition, which included a Pitch@Palace stand.’

The photograph was also shown in a post from the Chinese government, though Yang is not mentioned by name.

Yang was revealed last year to be ‘H6’, an alleged Chinese spy who had won ‘an unusual degree of trust’ from Andrew, according to a ruling.

Yang, who has denied claims that he is a spy, was banned from the UK by MI5 in 2024.

It comes after a report emerged claiming Andrew only pays his water bills ‘from time to time’.

The disgraced former duke, who recently gave up his royal title amid scrutiny over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, lives at the Royal Lodge.

A leaked copy of the lease for his Grade II-listed, 30-room Windsor home revealed he reportedly pays ‘one peppercorn’ for rent – so he only pays upkeep.

Now it has been claimed that as part of Andrew’s 75-year-long lease, he rarely has to pay the annual £743 water bill.

Affinity Water keeps the taps running at the lodge for £375, while Thames Water supplies sewer services for £368, according to The Sun.

However, documents seen by the tabloid said Andrew only has to pay these bills ‘from time to time’.

Water bills for the average person in the UK, meanwhile, have increased by 168% since 2003 – and ministers say they will unlikely fall anytime soon.

How Andrew pays for his lavish lifestyle and million-pound security detail, let alone his mansion, has been questioned by campaigners after King Charles cut off financial support for him last year.

A look at Royal Lodge in Windsor

The Royal Lodge is a Grade II-listed building in Windsor that houses 30 rooms, including seven bedrooms.

The lavish mansion is made up of a central section standing at three storeys tall, with two-storey wings.

The current building structure dates back to the 19th century and was later expanded in the 1930s by the then Duke of York, also the future King George VI.

The residence was previously occupied by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1952 until she died in 2002, aged 101.

Royal Lodge then became home to Prince Andrew and his family in 2004.

Charles removed Andrew’s £1million annual allowance, leaving his only declared income as a £20,000 naval pension.

Revelations that Andrew pays few bills at the lodge have strengthened calls by his critics for the prince to move.

Marijke Chartouni, a survivor of the sex offender Epstein, said Andrew should give up the estate and donate his rental income to charity.

She added: ‘Or let it become a refuge for trafficking survivors.’

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme yesterday that the ‘disgraced’ royal should pack his bags.

‘I don’t see why the taxpayer, frankly, should continue to foot the bill at all. The public are sick of him,’ he said.

Nearly three-quarters of people in the UK dislike Andrew, according to YouGov.

Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.