Prince Andrew braces for new nightmare as more court files released

is set to dominate headlines again over the next few days after new court documents are set to be released. The documents, which are set to be made public on Friday, will share more details about the , who has denied claims of any wrongdoing.

Mr Yang was banned from the UK on national security grounds last year after Home Secretary officials believed he had tried to exert influence on Prince Andrew. The Chinese businessman had struck up a friendship with the Duke of York and even played a key role in the royal's previous Pitch@Palace scheme, which connected entrepreneurs with investors. Although Andrew is now believed to have ceased all contact with Mr Yang, the duke received much criticism for the friendship.

in December the Special Immigration Appeals Commission said Mr Yang had formed an "unusual degree of trust" with the prince.

It is believed the alleged spy, who had been living in the UK since 2002, had even been invited to the royal's 60th birthday party.

The pair are believed to have grown closer after the duke's Newsnight interview in November 2019 focusing on his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, which led to so much public criticism that the duke ended up withdrawing from public duties.

He also ended his commercially successful Pitch@Palace events in both the UK and China.

documents released to the BBC showed that one of the prince's closest aides Dominic Hampshire told Mr Yang he had personally saved the prince's reputation in China. Yang was then invited in late 2020 to act for the royal in a planned $3bn investment fund - the "Eurasia Fund" scheme.

This project aimed to raise money for Chinese state projects in Africa and the Middle East, with Andrew at the head of the scheme.

The documents set to be disclosed today are expected to include Dominic Hampshire's account of his role in events and his relationship with Mr Yang. The documents will also reveal what happened when an unnamed UK government agency began speaking to the aide.

Papers are also expected to address the "Eurasia Fund" which has since been aborted.