How Prince Andrew became China's 'useful idiot'

Prince Andrew was regarded as a 'useful idiot' by China during his relationship with the country which spanned decades.

The Duke of York's links to Beijing stretch back to at least 2001, when he was made a trade envoy on his retirement from the Royal Navy.

After 2010, when David Cameron's government cosied up to China, the duke made ever more frequent visits.

These included eight trips as a guest of an organisation accused of being a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) feared intelligence agency.

He was repeatedly hosted by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), which allegedly answers to the United Front Work Department (UFWD), the Communist regime's intelligence and propaganda unit.

During the visits – most made on behalf of his Pitch@Palace business mentoring initiative – the duke heralded closer UK-China co-operation.

Mareike Ohlberg, co-author of Hidden Hand, which details the CCP's efforts to influence opinion overseas, described Prince Andrew as 'a classic 'useful idiot' who seemingly allows himself to be used'.

At the time, sources close to the duke said that 'any foreign dignitary would always be hosted by the CPIFA'.

Andrew was encouraged by the government of Lord Cameron, who hosted Chinese premier Xi Jinping to sup pints of bitter in an Oxfordshire pub as he heralded a 'golden era' in East/West relations.

And his chancellor, George Osborne, made no secret of forging strong ties with Chinese officials as he pursued his ambition of greater trade with the country.

But by 2016, British policy had started to shift amid troubling reports over the repression of the Muslim Uyghur minority and crackdowns on pro-democracy campaigners.

Andrew continued to visit China, making five visits between 2016 and 2019 on behalf of Pitch@Palace, which he set up after he stood down as UK trade envoy in 2011. Pitch@Palace established its Chinese arm in 2016.

During a visit in May 2018, the Duke of York reportedly extolled the virtues of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The policy, which sees China build infrastructure projects in developing countries, has been criticised because the regime can seize assets in the event of a debt default or exert influence over these countries. 

Later that year, Andrew unveiled the multiple-language editions of President Xi's propaganda book, The Governance Of China, at an event in London. In his final year of official duties, Andrew travelled to Shenzhen and Fujian.

In Britain it was not uncommon for the duke to host lunches and dinners for Chinese friends and he entertained the presidents of Chinese banks at his office in Buckingham Palace.

Yet even after the duke's car-crash Newsnight interview in 2019 forced him to step down as a frontline royal, his connections with China endured.

When Covid struck China in early 2020, he personally conveyed a message of sympathy from his mother the Queen to the Chinese government at a dinner in London hosted by the Chinese ambassador, Liu Xiaoming. The Duchess of York and Princess Beatrice were also present.

The ambassador was also invited to Andrew's 60th birthday party at Royal Lodge in Windsor in February that year.

The previous year, it was reported that Sarah Ferguson had received almost £300,000 from a firm chaired by the Hong Kong tycoon Johnny Hon, as well as a £72,000-a-year retainer for her non-executive directorship of his film investment company in Hong Kong.

The duke and his family's 'enthusiasm for China' was heralded by the ambassador in a tweet.

In 2020, the Mail revealed how Peter Phillips, the late Queen's grandson, was advertising bottles of milk on Chinese TV, telling viewers: 'It's a privilege... to bring Jersey milk to China.'

Princess Diana's niece Lady Kitty Spencer was also drumming up sales for another brand of milk as she posed in an emerald dress with a cup of tea at a photoshoot staged at the British Museum.

Prince William is said to be looking to take his Earthshot environmental prize to China in the future, despite the country being the biggest CO2 polluter on the planet.