Prince Andrew reportedly asked a woman to curtsey for him a second time after she made a mistake. According to journalist Harry Mount, a friend of his was staying in a house in Yorkshire where King Charles’ brother was invited for dinner. Upon greeting him however, she made a mistake which reportedly didn’t go down too well with the Duke of York.
Harry wrote in The i Paper: “Nervous, she curtseyed to him when he walked into the room. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Not right. I’m going to go out of the room, come back in and you’re going to curtsey properly’. And so he did. She dropped even lower when he came back in. But she has loathed him ever since,” the journalist added.
According to Harry, the encounter happened 30 years ago, when Andrew was “still young, dashing and still the Duke of York”.
Nowadays, he is no longer considered a working royal and recently gave up his titles amid fresh allegations against him.
The Prince formally lost his military titles and royal patronages in early 2022 following the controversy around his legal case with Virginia Giuffre.
Virginia, who died in April, claimed that the late Jeffrey Epstein forced her to engage in sexual activities with the Duke of York on three occasions when she was 17 – in New York, London, and the US Virgin Islands.
Andrew consistently and vehemently denies these accusations. He later reached an out-of-court settlement with Virginia, which did not constitute an admission of guilt, and he accepted no liability.
The father-of-two also stepped back from public duties, meaning he no longer performs official royal engagements.
More recently, Andrew gave up using all his titles and honours last week, as fresh allegations continue to surface.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, he said that after a discussion with the King and his immediate and wider family, it had been decided that “the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the royal family”.
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first,” he added. “I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.
“With His Majesty’s agreement, we feel I must now go a step further. I will therefore no longer use my title or the honours which have been conferred upon me. As I have said previously, I vigorously deny the accusations against me.”
Andrew will retain the dukedom of York, but will no longer be referred to as the Duke of York.
He also won’t be able to be referred to as ‘His Royal Highness’ or perform duties associated with his former title.
