In the aftermath of the sudden arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor while he celebrated his 66th birthday, rumours have swirled as to whether the government will look to introduce legislation to remove him from the monarchy’s line of succession. According to government sources, once the police investigation into the King’s brother has concluded, a consultation will begin.
Over recent months, Andrew’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have come under scrutiny, and the recent release of three million documents from the US Department of Justice has only intensified that. It has been alleged he may have released confidential information to the disgraced financier during his time as UK Trade Envoy.
Andrew’s arrest came at 8am on Thursday, February 19, while he was at his home on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk when plain-clothed police officers arrived at the property and detained him under suspicion of misconduct in a public office. They took him into custody where he remained for 11 hours until his release
He was released pending further investigation, and once this is finished, it will be seen as to whether he is removed from the line of succession, the Mirror reports.
A new report examining Andrew’s “very long fall from grace” that the public has watched come to a head in recent months, when the monarch unceremoniously removed his younger brother’s royal titles and styles, has been published in The Times, and provides new insight into the King’s brother as a young man, and his relationship with the late Queen.
Front pages of British nationals on Friday all showed Andrew leaving custody -Credit:Getty Images
Often dubbed the late Queen’s “favourite son” one allegation in the report includes a surprising reaction from the former monarch.
The outlet claims that “as a young man his behaviour was so atrocious that a footman punched him in the face”. Despite her well reported closeness with Andrew “Queen Elizabeth refused his subsequent offer to resign on the grounds that her son had obviously deserved it”.
The report further claims that Andrew used to get on his mother’s nerves, even though she “indulged” him.
“He spent his childhood annoying almost everyone. Even she was irritated by his habit of climbing onto the roof of Buckingham Palace to tinker with the TV aerial so she couldn’t watch the racing,” the outlet claims.
It was previously reported how Andrew had been the late Queen’s “favourite son” -Credit:PA
The claim that a footman once gave Andrew a black eye was first made by royal expert Ingrid Seward in her book “My Husband and I”.
The expert wrote that on one “occasion when [Andrew’s] taunting so annoyed a young footman that he took a swipe at Andrew that deposited him on the floor and left him with a black eye”, the royal staff member was left “fearing for his job.”
The footman went to the Queen herself, Seward has said, and offered to resign, but she said “her son had obviously deserved it and the footman was on no account to be punished for Andrew’s bad behaviour”.
However, one insider disputes whether or not Andrew really was the late Queen’s “favourite”. Ailsa Anderson, who was the late Queen’s Press Secretary between 2001 and 2013, told the BBC: “The media do say that he was the favourite son, but in my 12 years working for the late Queen I never saw her display any favouritism amongst any of her children, so I can’t really say that’s true.”
After Andrew was arrested early on Thursday from his temporary home of Wood Farm on the Sandringham Estate he was was taken to Aylsham police station – but most of the staff at the Aylsham police investigation were told not to come in that morning, it has been revealed in a new report, while officers only processed the former duke.
“Days before” he was arrested staff were reportedly told a “notable person” would be coming in. It’s even been alleged that there was an IT shutdown as part of the police operation to make sure the news did not get out beforehand.
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