Witness assertion by Prince Andrew aide needs to be made public, courtroom guidelines

A witness assertion containing apparently “embarrassing or indiscreet” feedback by an aide to Prince Andrew about his work needs to be made public, a tribunal has dominated after a authorized problem led by the Guardian.

Although the creator of the doc, Dominic Hampshire, an in depth pal of the prince, ought to have behaved with “discretion” relating to the royal household, that didn’t outweigh the rules of open justice, the judgment printed on Friday stated.

The 34-paragraph assertion was made by Hampshire in help of Yang Tengbo, a person who grew to become a enterprise associate of the prince however has subsequently been accused of being a Chinese language spy, resulting in his exclusion from the UK.

The tribunal wrote: “Substantial components of the witness assertion comprise materials which can’t probably be stated to be confidential, resembling details about Mr Hampshire’s background or about how he got here to know Mr Yang.”

It contained “details about the Duke of York which is within the public area”, resembling “the unfavorable impression of the Duke’s 2019 Newsnight interview” through which he tried to elucidate the character of his friendship with the intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The judgment stated: “There are additionally feedback about Mr Hampshire’s work with the duke which could appear embarrassing or indiscreet, however they aren’t resembling to present rise to the inference {that a} authorized obligation of confidentiality attaches to them.”

The precept of open justice outweighed the truth that “in Mr Hampshire’s dealings with the royal household there may be an expectation of discretion” although, the tribunal added, he had not cited any contractual obligations of confidentiality.

The assertion was a part of unsuccessful authorized proceedings introduced by Yang to problem the immigration choice. Hampshire had tried to argue that he had sought to withdraw the doc from the courtroom as soon as he realised it might not stay personal.

Media organisations led by the Guardian argued the assertion needs to be made public. It was one in every of many paperwork utilized by the tribunal as proof and was referred to in its public judgment.

On Friday morning, the particular immigration appeals fee (Siac) stated Hampshire’s witness assertion, plus different redacted paperwork referring to Yang’s enterprise dealings with the prince, needs to be made public with minimal redactions.

Nevertheless, the paperwork themselves are but to be launched, in case the events determine to enchantment. The tribunal additionally dominated that two phrases of Hampshire’s witness assertion would stay confidential, as soon as the doc was launched.

“As far as the data issues industrial exercise, there’s a substantial public curiosity within the press having the ability to report it,” the tribunal stated. “Total, the figuring out precept is the open justice precept.”

Hampshire had stated the assertion was initially written for the then house secretary, James Cleverly, to offer context in his evaluation of the unique choice to exclude Yang, made by his predecessor Suella Braverman. Yang then requested him to submit it to the tribunal to assist his case, Hampshire stated.

Hampshire, a former Scots guard, is an previous pal of Andrew’s. He described himself as a “senior adviser” to the duke in letters written to Yang in 2020, one in every of which praised the Chinese language businessman in gushing phrases for sticking with the prince when many others dropped him after the BBC interview.

“You sit on the very prime of a tree that many, many individuals want to be on,” the letter stated. He praised Yang for his discretion and stated he had confirmed “whole help and loyalty” when others had abandoned the prince.

In January, when he was opposing the discharge of the assertion, Hampshire described himself because the “secretary of the Quad-Centenary Membership”, a society established to lift funds for London’s Royal Blackheath golf membership, of which Andrew was chair.

Yang has stated beforehand that the allegations towards him are “totally unfounded”.