Andrew’s ‘impolite and dismissive’ behaviour ‘spoilt royal occasion’ earlier than it started
A new biography of the late Queen Elizabeth II, authored by Robert Hardman, contains a number of revelations about Prince Andrew’s behaviour during his time in the Royal Family
A new book has laid bare Andrew’s behaviour at royal events(Image: Karwai Tang, WireImagevia Getty Images)
Over the years Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has cultivated a standing as one of the most disagreeable, rude, and entitled characters within the Royal Family. The ex-duke’s dreadful conduct was clearly exhibited, according to royal biographer Robert Hardman, before an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
In his recent biography of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, presently being serialised in the Daily Mail, Robert spoke with numerous guests from the event, including one who said: “We were walking across the quadrangle and suddenly this blue Bentley appeared and did a handbrake turn, throwing up gravel over other people’s cars.
“Someone said, ‘I bet that’s Andrew.’ And sure enough it was. And everyone was talking about it as we went in because it had just spoiled things. He lived at Buckingham Palace, whereas we were just the little people going in there for our big day. And he just had to make it all about him.”
Andrew’s arrogance during that moment was hardly a one-off incident, Robert observes. In his book, he recalls an earlier episode at Windsor, when grooms from the Royal Mews had been exercising some of the Queen’s horses on the estate. “One had waved a firm hand at an approaching car which was revving its engine aggressively,” Robert writes. “It pulled alongside and, through the window, the Duke of York bellowed at her: ‘Who the f*** do you think you are?’ He then demanded her name. What’s more, he even took it up with the Queen – in person,” a former member of the Household remembered.
Despite Andrew’s veiled threat, the groom faced no repercussions following the deeply distressing incident, reports the Mirror.
One insider informed Robert that the very same qualities that made Andrew Her Majesty’s “favourite” son were, ultimately, the traits that earned him widespread disdain among Palace staff: “He’d been this wonderful baby after the ten-year gap with her older children.
“He wasn’t sensitive like King Charles III but, rather, had all the qualities that her husband had been – a straightforward, handsome naval officer. On the other hand, he was a seven-year-old who never grew up.”
His 22-year career in the Royal Navy, spanning from 1979 to 2001, seemed to provide some much-needed discipline in Andrew’s life: “We did press the Navy very hard to keep him on, but they couldn’t find a suitable role,” a senior royal aide subsequently informed Robert.
Dickie Arbiter, who oversaw the late Queen’s public relations for more than a decade, believes staff presently employed in Buckingham Palace’s press department will feel a sense of relief that they no longer need to defend “arrogant and entitled” Andrew. Dai Davies, who worked as Operational Unit Commander supervising Royal Protection for the Queen and the Royal Family during the mid-1990s, led a team of approximately 450 police officers tasked with safeguarding senior royals both domestically and internationally. He remembers most of those under his protection as “perfectly pleasant.”
Similar to Dickie Arbiter, he found his period working for the then-Prince and Princess of Wales fulfilling: “Charles was polite,” he said. “Diana – I liked her very much. When I started, she said to me, ‘You poor man – do you know what you’ve taken on?'”
However, like many former royal household employees, Dai has precious little positive to say about “rude and dismissive” Andrew.
