Prince Andrew is in full damage control mode after heaping yet more scandal on himself and the royals by association – this time by meeting a controversial Chinese spy – and it’s set his whole family and the palace into a major crisis ahead of the holidays, a source exclusively tells In Touch.
“The drama and embarrassment with Andrew just never seem to end,” the insider says. “He’s an absolute disaster, but no one can very well contain him. He seems to have a knack for humiliating himself and the royals in the process.”
The prince’s brother, King Charles, was briefed recently about a security breach that left the U.K. government red in the face after it was discovered the source of the leak – the spy known as H6 – was pictured meeting with the Duke of York.
His office confirmed that Andrew, 64, had “ceased all contact” with the alleged Chinese spy after “concerns were raised,” about his relationship. “The duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed,” his staff attempted to assure.
“He’s not done anything technically wrong here, but doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s once again at the center of an unsavory scandal,” the insider added.
Of the prince’s relationship with the king, 76, the source says, “it’s no secret Charles is already at the end of his rope.” It makes sense, as his wayward brother seems to be incapable of just lying low since the shameful accusations about his friendship with Jeffery Epstein kicked off a media torrent shaming him. Without a doubt, this recent episode – just now featuring international espionage instead of sex-trafficking – “is only going to exacerbate things.”
“Andrew was very quick to distance himself as soon as he learned about the dodgy spy connection, but the feeling at the palace is that he ought not to have even been in that position, that he ought to have done better due diligence,” the source says. “If it were anyone else in the family, they might get a bit of sympathy, but Andrew has put his foot in it so many times.”
As the spy-mystery unfolds, the insider calls Andrew “just a walking PR nightmare,” for the royals. Some of the more notorious scandals that has brought dishonor to his family include settling in court with a Turkish millionaire who accused him of taking $1.7 million of her money from a conman claiming to be a middleman in a business deal, becoming buddy-buddy with a Libyan gun-smuggler, finding himself under investigation for “international corruption” while representing British business abroad, and of course settling out of court for an undisclosed amount with Epstein victim and his sex-abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre and just generally handling the scandal like a pianist wearing oven mitts.
His list of bad deeds now has “people in The Firm just wringing their hands, wondering how much more leniency or tolerance that they can possibly show Andrew before they just fling him out on his ear.”
“The issue is that he’s clearly not going anywhere, so he’s like this thousand-pound elephant in the room.”
