Emily Maitlis, who sat down with Prince Andrew for a disastrous interview in 2019 has defended him after the Duke of York has become involved in yet another scandal.

It was revealed last week that the prince, 64, was once friends with Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo, who is now feared to be a suspected spy.

Reports confirm that Mr Tengbo – who has denied the allegations – had been a friend of the duke and had been invited into the royal palaces, as well as to Andrew’s 60th birthday party.

Although Andrew’s office confirmed the duke did not share any “sensitive” information with the suspected spy and ceased all contact when concerns were raised, the scandal has further rocked the duke’s public image, resulting in him withdrawing from all Christmas events with the Royal Family.

However, while many have been quick to judge the duke for this past friendship, journalist Emily Maitlis, who famously interviewed the Duke in 2019 about allegations of sexual assault and his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, has been one of the few to defend him in this latest scandal.

This is despite the fact her interview with Andrew on Newsnight, where he denied having sex with Virginia Giuffre, contributed to the duke’s overall downfall.

The journalist also helped turn the story of the 2019 interview into an Amazon Prime drama series – A Very Royal Scandal – with Andrew played by Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson portraying Maitlis.

While the journalist and Andrew are not believed to be friends, the Daily Mail reports that Maitlis has defended him over this latest Chinese spy scandal.

She said: “I don’t understand why this is laid at the door of the prince with so much castigation and so much blame.

“If he’s guilty of something, it’s definitely naivety. But when I read all this stuff that he’s not allowed to walk to church, he’s not allowed to be with the Royal Family…I don’t understand what the actual crime is here, frankly.”

Prince Andrew will not attend the pre-Christmas lunch with the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace today, or the main Christmas celebrations at Sandringham next week.

Instead, he will now be spending the big day at his Royal Lodge home in Windsor with ex wife Sarah Ferguson.

It was reported last week that King Charles’ senior aides have been briefed by MI5 about Andrew’s past relations with the suspected spy.