Prince Andrew was allegedly “very difficult” to work with, and Palace staff would “avoid him” as he was “bombastic” and would “swear”, a former royal staffer has claimed. The Duke of York has kept a low public profile after he stepped down as a senior working royal in 2019 following his disastrous interview with BBC Newsnight.
Now, in a new documentary on Channel 5, which gives insight into the lives of the Firm from those who worked closely with them, Paul Burrell, who was a butler to the late Princess Diana and also worked for the late Queen Elizabeth for 11 years, gave his version of working with the duke. He said in The Palace: What the Royal Servants Saw: “People tried to avoid Prince Andrew because he was very difficult. Prince Andrew was always bombastic, shouty, and always swore, and that’s something that you don’t expect from a royal.”
According to the Scottish Daily Express, the former royal butler added that Andrew was the late Queen’s “favourite son” despite his temper. Mr Burrell claimed: “He had his mother’s ear, so whenever anything went wrong in his world he was straight to the [late] Queen.”
Meanwhile, royal author Tom Quinn claimed that Andrew thinks he is always right.
He said: “He [Prince Andrew] also thinks he would make a better king than his brother, for the simple reason he is the manly man that his brother isn’t.”
Another author, Valentine Low, opened up about an incident which allegedly saw Andrew being “stunningly rude” to the Queen’s former press secretary James Roscoe.
He claimed the incident occurred on a rainy day in London shortly before the late monarch carried out an engagement.
According to the author, it became apparent that no one had brought an umbrella for the late monarch, and Mr Roscoe was sent to get one for it.
He reportedly saw a group of Army officers who had gathered to meet the late Queen and asked them if anyone could hold it beside her.
The author alleged that Andrew aggressively told the press secretary: “Who the f*** are you to ask these men to find you a f***ing umbrella? You go and find your own f***ing umbrella.”