A suspected Chinese spy with business ties to Prince Andrew has been prevented from entering the United Kingdom due to concerns about his potential harm to national security. A British immigration tribunal supported the judgment on Thursday, revealing that the Chinese national had formed such a close bond with Andrew that he was invited to the prince’s birthday celebration. According to the verdict, government officials were concerned that the guy may have abused his position because the prince was under “considerable pressure” at the time.

British police suspect the Chinese person, whose name has not been revealed, was working for the United Front Work Department, a Chinese Communist Party branch employed to influence foreign organizations. The government found that the businessman “was in a position to generate relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent U.K. figures which could be leveraged for political interference purposes by the Chinese State,” according to the tribunal’s verdict.

In a statement issued by his office, Andrew, also known as the Duke of York, stated that he followed government advice and cut off all contact with the Chinese national as soon as concerns were raised. According to his office, the Duke met with the individual through official procedures and did not discuss any sensitive information. “He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.”

Prince Andrew, King Charles III’s younger brother, has been repeatedly chastised for his connections to affluent foreigners, raising suspicions that those persons are attempting to buy access to the royal family. Andrew’s finances have been pinched in recent years when he was compelled to step down from royal duties and withdraw public funds due to worries over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and convicted pedophile who killed suicide in jail in 2019.

British intelligence chiefs are growing concerned about China’s attempts to influence UK government policies. In 2022, Britain’s domestic intelligence organization, MI5, told parliamentarians that a British-Chinese lawyer had been attempting to unlawfully influence members of Parliament for several years. A parliamentary researcher was detained in 2023 on accusations of disclosing sensitive material to China.