Royal Family SECRETS EXPOSED

The palace is in a panic as Prince Andrew is accused of consorting with an alleged spy — what did he reveal?

About 70 members of the extended royal family attended the annual pre-Christmas lunch hosted by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace on Dec. 19. And despite the presence of his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Prince Andrew was not among them. His ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, “also urged him to skip the traditional celebration at Sandring ham,” says a palace source, “to avoid putting his brother in the awkward position of disinviting him.”

It’s probably best to lay low. Just two weeks before Christmas, a new scandal involving the disgraced prince exploded: According to U.K. court documents, Chinese businessman and alleged spy Yang Tengbo was “a close confidant” of Andrew’s “in an apparently serious breach of national security.” Andrew has insisted that “nothing of a sensitive nature was discussed,” and he’s cut ties with Yang, who denied claims that he is involved in espionage. But the media frenzy “has caused panic in the palace — he’s been accused of spilling all to this man, and Andrew knows a lot,” says the source, noting that as the late Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite child, Andrew has been privy to highly sensitive information about the king and his children. “The royal family is spiraling over fears that secrets are going to be coming out.”

CLOSE TIES

It doesn’t look good for Andrew. The Duke of York, 64, reportedly knew Yang for 10 years, and by 2020 had “an unusual degree of trust” in him, according to a U.K. national security court’s judgment upholding Yang’s ban from the country. Their relationship developed “in a context where the Duke was under considerable pressure,” the document states.