The “senior adviser” who brokered the relationship between the Duke of York and the alleged Chinese “spy” is a semi-professional golfer who has had ties to the royal family for more than 25 years.
Dominic Hampshire, 56, is a former Scots Guardsman who rose to the rank of captain and spent the last three of his decade in the army as a squire to the Duke of Kent.
Mr Hampshire said his role included “running the professional life” of the Duke of Kent, and official records show that Elizabeth was invited to attend royal events to countries including France, Canada and France in the late 1990s. It has been revealed that he accompanied His Royal Highness, a cousin of Queen II. South Africa.
The married father-of-two, from Chalfont St Peter, Hampshire, said in court documents published on Thursday that he was a Chinese civil servant who was banned from entering the UK because he claimed to be Chinese. was described as an “advisor” to Prince Andrew in the negotiations. A secret agent who collects information on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party. [CCP].
However, he has long acted as a “fixer” for members of the royal family and other “rich people.”
Mr Hampshire, who was born in Edinburgh and moved to Africa as a child before boarding at Cheltenham University, helped found travel company Latitude International after leaving the army. He joined the company, which specializes in high-end holiday hospitality, in 2003 as a director.
He said in a 2021 podcast that this would allow people with deep pockets to “not have to check into a hotel, check out, or worry about paying a bill.”
Mr Hampshire went on to mention his past experience with the Duke of Kent, adding: “We knew there was a product that could help our royal family, but it didn’t exist anywhere else.”
Dominic Hampshire was described in court documents released on Thursday as Prince Andrew’s “advisor” in dealing with Chinese civil servants banned from entering the UK.
Prince Andrew and suspected Chinese spy banned from UK entry
Mr Hampshire has long acted as a ‘fixer’ for members of the royal family and other ‘rich people’.
Mr Hampshire, whose travels often include luxury golf holidays and who even refers to himself as a “professional golfer” in his company director role, bonded with Prince Andrew over their shared love of the sport. Ta.
He is secretary of the Quad Centenary Club, which was set up to raise funds for London’s Royal Blackheath Golf Club, of which Andrew was chairman. He was also “tournament director” for the Young Champions Trophy, the Duke of York’s under-18 golf tournament, which was canceled following revelations about his association with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. It was done.
Mr. Hampshire also appears to have helped the Duke with other business arrangements.
In February 2019, Mr Hampshire incorporated a business called York Investments Global Limited, which was shut down soon after the following year. In November 2019, a car crash Newsnight interview was aired in which Andrew tried to justify his much-criticized relationship with Epstein.
In June 2020, Mr Hampshire was behind an unlimited company called Linsells, named after the Battle of Linsells in 1793, when Prince Frederick, Duke of York, was in command of Britain. The company was reportedly a trust fund for Andrew’s daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie.
The duke took control of the trust alongside his “friend and private banker” Harry Keogh. Mr Keogh resigned from his job at Royal Bank Coutts in 2018 after allegations surfaced that he had made unwanted advances towards a female colleague. At the time the allegations became public, a friend of Mr. Keough’s told The Wall Street Journal that Mr. Keough denied the allegations. The other administrator is Charles Douglas, a lawyer and partner at the London firm CDS Mayfair, who “works closely with commercial banks, private equity and offshore funds, and works closely with private banks, private equity and offshore funds to manage high-net-worth individuals and their clients, both domestically and internationally. “We provide advice to corporations.”
Linsells disbanded in 2022.
One of Mr Hampshire’s neighbors said he had no knowledge of life in the royal area and believed him to be a wealthy “city employee” because of his membership in a prestigious golf club.
Mr Hampshire’s relationship with the royal family goes back more than 25 years.
“If you were talking about my neighbor Prince Andrew, I never would have imagined he could knock me down with a feather.”
Another said he was often picked up by cars from his estate, and a third said he had been approached at a dinner party a few years ago but had kept quiet about his royal connections. spoke.
“I knew he was Equary, but I didn’t even know what Equary was,” she said.
“I can tell you for sure that at this dinner party I went to, he never mentioned Prince Andrew.
“So I think he’s probably a very cautious person.”
According to court documents, Mr Hampshire wrote a letter to the suspected Chinese spy regarding the Duke of York in March 2020. He said, “I also hope it’s clear where you sit with my principal and actually his family.”
“Never underestimate the strength of that relationship. Outside of his closest inner circle, you’re sitting at the top of the tree where so many people want to sit.”
There is no indication that Mr Hampshire or the Duke suspected the Chinese businessman, known for legal reasons as H6, of being a spy.
Hampshire admitted that he was forced to join the military because he didn’t study hard in school, but he said in a 2021 podcast that his mother always told him he was “very lucky to be born with charisma.” spoke. But charisma alone is not enough. ”
The former soldier may now regret being naive in his dealings with a Chinese “spy.”