Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson pull out of Sandringham Royal Family Christmas
Fresh scandal erupted around Prince Andrew after his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy came to light.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have pulled out of the Royal Family's Christmas celebration in Sandringham, it's been claimed.
The news comes amid fresh controversy after Prince Andrew's relationship with an alleged Chinese spy came to light.
The Daily Mail reported that the pair will instead celebrate the Christmas holiday at their multi-million-pound property Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Prince Andrew and his ex-wife still both live in Royal Lodge which Andrew has on a long-term lease from the Crown Estate, despite King Charles withdrawing his financial support for his brother and the costs of running his home, with a security bill costing several million pounds yearly.
The alleged targeting by an alleged Chinese influence operation is the latest controversy for Prince Andrew, who is no longer a working royal, and stepped back from duties in 2019.
The decision around Christmas plans comes as the alleged Chinese spy, now named as Yang Tengbo, who forged links with Andrew and mixed with former Prime Ministers insists he has "done nothing wrong or unlawful".
The decision comes after the High Court lifted restrictions on naming the Chinese businessman, previously described as a "close confidante" of the royal, earlier this afternoon.
Previously he was only known publicly as 'H6' after a court imposed an anonymity order. Last week he lost an appeal over a decision to bar him from entering the UK on national security grounds.
In his statement, Mr Yang 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 'spy' is entirely untrue."
On Friday, Prince Andrew said he "ceased all contact" with the businessman. In a rare statement from his office, the Duke of York said he had cut ties following "advice" from officials.
Andrew's statement read: "The Duke of York followed advice from HMG (His Majesty's Government) and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised. The duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed. He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security."
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The alleged spy was first excluded from entering Britain in 2023 by then home secretary Suella Braverman after the Home Office said he was considered to have engaged in "covert and deceptive activity" on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The case has been thrust back into the limelight after the subject argued his exclusion from the UK was unlawful and appealed to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). Last week, the specialist tribunal in London upheld the ban and ruled that Ms Braverman had been "entitled to conclude" that he "represented a risk to the national security."
Meanwhile, the MailOnline understands Andrew and Sarah's children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, have already made the decision to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws, having not had the chance to do so for several years.
It was previously reported by Express.co.uk, Princess Eugenie was contemplating a Christmas invitation from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle who had invited the family to California for the festivities.
