Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor once allegedly became embroiled in a “physical altercation” with a senior aide working for Queen Elizabeth.
It’s claimed the then-Duke of York attacked Vice-Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, master of the household, because he reportedly was unable to fulfil his request to host a Pitch@Palace event at Buckingham Palace.
The initiative was launched by the former prince in 2014 as a start-up accelerator and ran until 2019, collapsing following his resignation from royal duties.
Details of the alleged fight have been detailed in Robert Hardman’s new royal book, Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story, serialised in the Daily Mail ahead of its release.
“It was a routine household matter,” a senior royal staff member told Hardman.
“The Duke wanted to have a reception, and there wasn’t any room. It was as simple as that.
“Tony said he’d have to wait his turn like anybody else, and the Duke went for him.”
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The author described how the furious outburst was not just “expletives and a jab of the finger” but instead a “kinetic” blow, leaving other household employees shocked.
Andrew’s father, the late Prince Philip, was reportedly so concerned by the incident that he personally sent an apology letter to the senior aide.
Meanwhile, Andrew apparently felt differently.
Hardman wrote that Sir Tony notified the Lord Chamberlain of the alleged altercation, who reported it to then-Prince Charles.
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After being confronted by his brother about the issue, Andrew allegedly called the Lord Chamberlain himself, telling him: “I gather you’ve been calling people and causing problems.”
Elsewhere in the preview for Hardman’s book he described the stunned reaction within the royal household to Andrew’s infamous 2019 Newsnight interview.
According to the author, he had gone against all internal advice to record the trainwreck tell-all with journalist Emily Maitlis, with a senior aide recalling how “everyone in his office had been told that this should not happen”.
The interview had catastrophic consequences for the then-prince, who was forced to resign from his royal duties – a point at which the late Queen was reportedly “very, very down”, and at her “worst” moment, according to a source.
“She was very stoical,” a source told Hardman.
“She understood the need. But it was very, very painful.”
Andrew was stripped of his titles and evicted from Royal Lodge by the King late last year, and was arrested in February at his new home in Norfolk following the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files in the weeks prior.
He was released after 11 hours in custody but remains under investigation.