He and the Princess went on a nine-day charity trip with several others in October 2016.<\/p>\n
While there is no suggestion that Beatrice knew anything of Taylor\u2019s alleged activities, the photograph shows how well-connected the public affairs professional was among Britain\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n
New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n
The trip was organised by the Franks Family Foundation, a charity of which Beatrice is a patron. The seven-strong group travelled by car through Asia and saw the work of Dr Sanduk Ruit, a Nepalese eye surgeon who treats patients for free. Funds for the foundation come solely from its founder, Simon Franks.<\/p>\n
According to a contemporary local report, the group visited Nepal\u2019s Tilganga eye centre and Muskan Sewa Nepal children\u2019s home. The Princess also held a private meeting with Bhutan\u2019s royal family.<\/p>\n
Franks confirmed the trip to The i Paper and said: \u201cPrincess Beatrice has worked tirelessly for the foundation for over a decade, supporting our education and public health projects in Laos, Cambodia and Nepal, to which she has travelled on many occasions for the foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn one of those trips, Princess Beatrice accompanied a team of doctors across Nepal, India and Bhutan. David Taylor, who was a policy adviser for the foundation, was also on that trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
He claimed Beatrice \u201cdid not know him prior and has not seen him since\u201d and added: \u201cDuring his time as a policy adviser to the foundation, I found David to be a kind, charitable and proud Brit. I am astonished by the arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2024, Beatrice\u2019s father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was also involved in controversy over his links to alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.<\/p>\n
Tengbo ran the then duke of York\u2019s Pitch@Palace in China, a Dragons\u2019 Den-style project designed to encourage entrepreneurs. He was banned from the UK after security services accused him of engaging in \u201ccovert and deceptive activity\u201d for the Chinese Communist Party. Yang denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Last month, Mountbatten-Windsor was released under investigation after being arrested for misconduct in public office in connection with the Epstein files. He has consistently and strenuously denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
The latest arrests over alleged Chinese spying have rocked Westminster and Cardiff. On Wednesday, two other men were also arrested under the National Security Act: Steve Jones, 68, a former Welsh government special adviser, and Matthew Aplin, 43, a former Labour press officer.<\/p>\n
A Senedd source described Aplin as a \u201cLabour man through and through\u201d but claimed he had recently quit the party to join Reform.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Reform UK, when asked by The i Paper, denied that Aplin was a member. However, on Thursday, the party\u2019s Welsh leader, Dan Thomas, confirmed he had held membership.<\/p>\n
Thomas told ITV Wales: \u201cI have just heard that he used to be a member of Reform. He isn\u2019t a member right now and hasn\u2019t been a member recently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones previously served as a special adviser to Hilary Armstrong \u2013 now Baroness Armstrong \u2013 the UK government\u2019s chief whip during Tony Blair\u2019s premiership. He was an adviser to the Welsh Cabinet between 2009 and 2014, according to a profile of him on a company website.<\/p>\n
All three men were released on bail on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Searches were carried out at the properties where the arrests were made, as well as at three other addresses in London, East Kilbride and Cardiff.<\/p>\n
Welsh journalist Martin Shipton has confirmed in an article for Nation.Cymru<\/a> that police also searched his home in Cardiff in connection with the investigation. He said he gave a voluntary statement and was not arrested.<\/p>\n James Robinson, a former aide to ex-Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, confirmed that police had searched his home as part of the Chinese spying investigation. <\/p>\n In a statement, he said: \u201cI would like to make it absolutely clear that I have neither been detained, arrested nor questioned in connection with this, or any other, matter.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Joani](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_287819868.jpg\")
Reid with her partner David Taylor (Photo: Joani Reid\/Facebook)<\/p>\n
![\"Article](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772815449_57_SEI_287840644.jpg\")
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