"This stuff has vanished. The Foreign Office claimed not to know anything about it. The Department of Business and Trade knows nothing. I've put in, I think, probably over 100 requests now, and I'm still really not much further forward."

"I asked for specific trips that he made on specific times. I asked for general papers about particular departments. Each time, it's either too wide, and therefore there's a cost compliance element, or it's too narrow, and they have no information. And so we're playing the semantics the whole time; it's like playing whack-a-mole."

Prince Andrew is at the heart of another embarrassing scandal for the Royal Family.

But this doesn't concern his concerning exploits with the now-deceased Jeffrey Epstein, but rather about his business ties with an accused Chinese spy.

Sky News reports that Prince Andrew appears to have ties with a Chinese businessman who is now banned from the UK on national security grounds. The Chinese national referred to as "H6" in court documents, is alleged to have links with China's United Front Work Department, a state arm accused of "grey zone warfare" to infiltrate Western institutions.

H6 reportedly gained access to Prince Andrew's Windsor home, royal events, and Buckingham Palace during the Duke’s time as a trade envoy. Although Andrew ceased contact with the businessman following government advice, questions linger over his business dealings and the potential security risks posed by such relationships.

Prince Andrew's business documents appear to have now "vanished," according to royal biographer Andrew Lownie.

The Chinese embassy has dismissed the new reports about H6 and Prince Andrew as "baseless," while Buckingham Palace declined to comment, emphasizing Andrew's status as a non-working royal.

Prince Andrew was the focus of a scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein following the release of a 2016 deposition accusing him of groping a woman's breast.

The accusation, part of unsealed documents tied to Jeffrey Epstein, stems from Johanna Sjoberg's claim that Prince Andrew groped her at Epstein's New York home in 2001. Buckingham Palace denied the allegations as "categorically untrue" and the London Metropolitan Police confirmed they would not open a new investigation.

Virginia Giuffre accused Prince Andrew of sexually assaulting her on three separate occasions when she was 17, allegations detailed in the documents released this week. Prince Andrew has denied the accusations, claiming he has no recollection of meeting Giuffre, despite a photograph showing them together when she was a teenager.

The British Royal Family appears to be the target of Chinese espionage and influence operations. This week, reports emerged that outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden pardoned three accused Chinese spies as part of a spy swap; one of the spies was found guilty of possessing a huge trove of indecent material involving minors.