Gordonstoun ends contract with company owned by Prince Andrew-linked alleged ‘Chinese spy’

A private school has scrapped a major deal with a firm owned by an alleged Chinese spy with links to Prince Andrew.

Gordonstoun, in Moray, signed a deal with a company controlled by Yang Tengbo, who can be named after an anonymity order ended today.

The deal would have seen Hampton Group International, which has Mr Yang as the sole controlling interest according to Companies House documents, establish up to five Gordonstoun-linked schools in China.

A spokesperson for the private school, where King Charles and the Duke of York were educated, said it had “terminated its contract” with the firm after learning of the links.

Businessman Mr Yang, known as “H6”, was banned from the UK after being stopped in an airport in November 2021.

However, the 50-year-old’s links to royalty were exposed after he appealed the decision to a semi-secret immigration court named the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in 2023.

The court’s verdict, handed down by High Court judge Justice Bourne, said the man had established an “unusual degree of trust” with Prince Andrew.

Mr Yang denied spying for the Chinese state in a statement issued earlier today.

He said: “Due to the high level of speculation and misreporting in the media and elsewhere, I have asked my legal team to disclose my identity.

“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.”

A story in The Daily Telegraph today reported that The Duke of York helped to broker the Gordonstoun deal.

However, a school spokesperson denied that the royal - who has no formal role at Gordonstoun - had been involved in the project.

“Gordonstoun has been made aware that Yang Tengbo, the Chairman of the Hampton Group, has been named as the alleged Chinese spy known as ‘H6’,” the school spokesperson added.

“Following this information, Gordonstoun terminated its contract with the Hampton Group. For legal reasons, we are unable to provide further details at this time.”

When the deal was signed, in 2019, a Gordonstoun spokesperson described the Hampton Group as “a specialist in fostering closer bonds between the UK and China”.

“In the Hampton Group, we feel that we have found the right partner to help us introduce the unique Gordonstoun approach to China,” the spokesperson added.

“Their commitment to character development in education shone through from the first meeting and we have been encouraged by all we have seen and heard from them in the intervening months.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy described recent reporting related to Mr Yang as an attempt to “smear China and sabotage normal people-to-people exchanges between China and the UK”.

“We strongly condemn this,” the spokesperson added.