An ‘arrogant’ Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor approached Sir Timothy Laurence ‘like a heat-seeking missile’ to share details about his links to an alleged Chinese spy, a body language expert and lip reader have claimed.
As members of the Royal Family gathered outside of St George’s Chapel ahead of the Easter Sunday Service in April 2025, eagle-eyed onlookers noted a rare and rather striking interaction between Andrew and Princess Anne’s husband, Sir Tim.
According to body language expert Judi James, a ‘defiant and arrogant’ Andrew looked synonymous with ‘a heat-seeking missile’ as he quickly sought to make conversation with a ‘trapped’ Vice Admiral Sir Tim, 71.
The former Duke of York, 66, approached the retired British naval officer and is said to have asked him: ‘Are you aware what happened two days ago?’ according to lip reader Nicola Hickling.
Gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder, the former prince then allegedly continued: ‘Tried to blacken me.’
The event would be Andrew’s final public Easter celebration with members of the Firm. Just six months later, he was stripped of his royal titles amid the ongoing scandal surrounding his controversial ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Yet at that time, Andrew was already embroiled in another rather notable scandal – following the release of documents in December 2024 which revealed the royal’s close bond with alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
And video footage captured at the royal Easter celebrations certainly seemed to show Andrew struggling with the mounting crisis – as he rested his chin in his hand and appeared either ‘reflective or frustrated’, Ms Hickling noted.
It was at this moment, she claimed, that Sir Tim turned to his brother-in-law and told him clearly: ‘Andrew, you need to calm down.’
Yet Andrew appeared uninterested in acknowledging such demands and instead shook his head. In response, he said: ‘No, he won’t get away with it. We haven’t spoke in quite a while.
‘Perhaps I should ask him…’
For a brief moment, the former prince is partially obscured from the camera, before Sir Tim allegedly said: ‘Yes, yes.’
Andrew then continued: ‘And so, erm… was it yesterday? It was definitely yesterday… it’s rather difficult to know. I don’t even know why it was done.’
‘Yes, yes,’ added Sir Tim once again, before Andrew said: ‘I am bemused, and I think it will reveal itself, and then what.’
‘Anne is going to speak to you in a moment,’ Sir Tim allegedly told Andrew, marking an abrupt end to their conversation.
According to Ms James, prior to their words of exchange, Sir Tim was in ‘isolated mode’ as he stood ‘with his hands clasped behind his back in a ritual of best behaviour, silently scanning the group with a polite smile’.
She added that in contrast, ‘Andrew emerges and immediately alienates himself visually with his jacket flying open as though at a casual event, folding his arms across his body in a non-regal gesture.’
Analysing Andrew’s ‘defiant and arrogant’ body language, Ms James explained that the former prince eventually ‘finds his gap at the centre of the group and in full inelegant mode, with the stomach of his shirt protruding below his folded arms, engages Tim in active and animated conversation’.
‘With a non-royal thumb jerk in the direction of the church, Andrew turns to cut Tim off in a pose of exclusive conversation. His gestures are casual and animated, with a chin rub, inelegant leg splay and some frowning and pointing,’ she added.
Would YOU expect a royal to handle pressure differently?
Comment now ‘Tim is clearly trapped but we can see Jack nearly get sucked into this social vortex before backing away.’
While Sir Tim ‘avoids any active participation or collusion signals’ and fails to return any of Andrew’s ‘intense eye contact’, Ms James noted a degree of ‘inner distress or awkwardness visible from his self-comfort rituals’.
She explained: ‘He pats his left pocket in a pointless gesture that only suggests some level of brewing anxiety and even ends up trying to push his hand awkwardly into the pocket, suggesting a desire to hide.
‘He even points at the clergy in what looks like an act of distraction, as though he is trying to deflect Andrew’s attention away from himself and urge him forward to bid his farewell to the priest.’
Andrew and Sir Tim’s striking conversation comes as the former prince has been under intense public scrutiny following his arrest on his 66th birthday, February 19, on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
His arrest came over claims that the former prince had shared sensitive information with Epstein when he was the UK’s trade envoy – but Andrew has not been arrested in relation to any sex offences.
At the time of his arrest, King Charles released a statement in which he announced that the police would have his ‘wholehearted support and co-operation’ and that ‘the law must take its course’.
Yet little is known about his sister, Princess Anne, nor Sir Tim’s views towards the ensuing scandal.
According to the Daily Mail’s Editor-At-Large Richard Kay, Anne is understood to be in contact with Andrew and remains concerned for his welfare, yet still shares the family view that the King was right to banish Andrew and strip him of his royal titles.
However, the Princess Royal, 75, is still understood to be reluctant to see her brother excluded from private family gatherings.
Despite Andrew and Sir Tim’s respective naval backgrounds ‘it does not seem that they were ever close’, according to royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams.
‘Their relations seem to have been purely formal as members of the same family,’ he told the Daily Mail.
He added: ‘Anne and Sir Tim act as a team, there is no question that loyalty to the institution is paramount and it has become clear that Andrew is involved in a scandal with worldwide effects. Any connection with him is clearly toxic.’
While Mr Fitzwilliams notes that Anne and Andrew were ‘once reportedly quite close’, he explained that the hard-working Princess Royal is said to be ‘aghast at what has been revealed about his behaviour’.
Sir Tim, who has been married to Anne for more than 33 years, is understood to have been the Princess’s rock for decades and will no doubt be supporting her through an incredibly tumultuous time for the Royal Family.
In October, sources claimed that security services deemed Andrew a possible risk to Britain’s national security due to his links to suspected Chinese spies.
Cabinet ministers allegedly knew about the concerns which were first raised in 2021 after the then-Duke of York held meetings with suspected spy Yang Tengbo, who is also known as Chris Yang and has been referred to as ‘H6’.
Mr Yang helped Andrew set up a Chinese arm of Andrew’s now-defunct Pitch@Palace initiative which supported entrepreneurs.
The King’s brother became close to Mr Yang during the process and in turn helped him establish a UK consultancy firm called Hampton Group International.
But fears were raised that Andrew could be endangering national security by meeting suspected spies while promoting his charity, multiple sources told The Telegraph.
It followed claims that Andrew held at least three meetings with the Chinese official at the centre of the collapsed trial of two suspected British spies working for Beijing.
Mr Yang has been banned from the UK since March 2023 but has always denied spying.
The Chinese businessman challenged his ban on entering the UK at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in July 2024, but lost his appeal in December.
Mr Yang was said to have become a close confidant of Andrew and was also pictured with senior Conservative politicians including David Cameron and Theresa May.
He forged links with the former prince, and according to the royal Court Circular, had engagements with him on June 25 and June 29, 2018.
In a briefing for the home secretary in July 2023, officials said Mr Yang had been in a position to generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials ‘that could be leveraged for political interference purposes’.
They also said that he had downplayed his relationship with the Chinese state, which combined with his relationship with Andrew, represented a threat to national security.
Mr Yang insisted he had ‘done nothing wrong or unlawful’, and said it is ‘entirely untrue’ to claim he was involved in espionage, and claimed he was a victim of a ‘political climate’ which had seen a rise in tensions between the UK and China.
In December 2024, Andrew said he ‘ceased all contact’ with Mr Yang when concerns were first raised about him.
Andrew met the individual through ‘official channels’ with ‘nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed’, his office said.
