Since his titles and honours were stripped, countless stories have come out about how the 65-year-old allegedly bullied and humiliated members of staff.
With the former Duke of York’s impending eviction from Royal Lodge, his home since 2008, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is likely to not receive the same ‘royal hospitality’ that he has grown used to over the years. Since his titles and honours were stripped, countless stories have come out about how the 65-year-old allegedly bullied and humiliated members of staff.
According to latest reports, Andrew will be without staff at the significantly smaller Marsh Farm on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. It’s been said that his brother the King has offered him a cleaner, groundsman and cook on an ad hoc basis – but that “hasn’t gone down well”.
As he prepares for his new life in Norfolk, The Mirror has taken a closer look at some of the allegations of Andrew’s bad behaviour towards employees. According to author Andrew Lownie, Andrew’s attitude was that his staff were “there to serve and not to question his actions”.
He is alleged to have made bizarre requests of royal employees, and would reportedly ‘scream and shout’ if they were not followed through. Lownie spoke to one of the Queen Mother‘s former equerries, Colin Burgess, for his book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York.
Burgess recalled: “I saw Andrew about once a month, when he came to visit Clarence House, and he would talk to the staff, including me, as an officer talks to his subordinates. He would say things such as: ‘I want this done and I want it done now,’ or ‘Have that done by such and such a time’.
“I remember him always saying ‘Do it!’ which was his catchphrase of sorts.” This was in stark contrast to how the equerry was treated by the Queen Mother or King Charles, who saw staff as “human beings”, he said.
According to Lowrie’s book, Andrew insisted that the maids in his home climb four floors of stairs just to open his curtains for him in the morning – whilst he lay right beside them. And an insider further claimed: “His bedtime habits as a single man left a lot to be desired, and a collection of scrunched-up, soiled tissues usually lay scattered around the bed each morning for staff to collect after they had made his bed.”
One of Andrew’s most unusual obsessions involves his famously extensive teddy bear collection. According to Charlotte Briggs, a former staff member, the disgraced royal had 72 in total, which had to be lined up in size order, and arranged precisely on his bed.
She told the Sun: “As soon as I got the job, I was told about the teddies, and it was drilled into me how he wanted them. I even had a day’s training. Everything had to be just right. It was so peculiar.”
Charlotte also stated that the ex-Duke frequently lost his temper with the staff, especially if it involved his cuddly toys. She added: “It took me half an hour to arrange them – most bizarre thing to be paid for.”
According to former royal protection officer Paul Page, there was also a laminated handwritten guide titled “DOY bed: Points for turn down & making the bed”, with Andrew keeping an accompanying sketch close to his bed while staying at the Palace. And he would “scream and shout” if his servants failed to place them exactly how he wanted, Paul told ITV ‘s Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile.
Andrew allegedly also once banished a staffer because he “couldn’t bear” to look at a mole in his face, and also arranged to remove a member of his staff because he was wearing a nylon tie, according to royal expert Tom Quinn.
Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants details accounts from royal servants over the years. Several former staffers recounted that Andrew had insisted on removing the member of staff due to disliking a mole on the man’s face, as they described the royal as “bossy” who tended to “act like a classic school bully”.
One of his servants recalled: “Andrew always behaved as if he was frustrated about not being the first-born and therefore destined to become king. This frustration made him a bit of a bully in private, I think.
“If he liked a member of his staff, he could be very loyal and supportive, but he couldn’t resist being imperious and bossy and bad-tempered if anything went wrong or wasn’t done exactly to his liking.”
Andrew has been keeping a low profile since he was unceremoniously stripped of his royal titles by his brother the King in light of his Epstein association. Along with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, he holed up at Royal Lodge, where he is said to have spent his days wandering through the rooms of the property with little to do. He has been living what has been described as a “kind of arrested adolescence”, with his “lonely” lifestyle revolving around video games and golf.
He is said to rise late before taking breakfast served by staff. After that, he spends much of the day in a large sitting room where a giant screen “takes up almost an entire wall”, playing video games or watching war films and golf coverage.
But, despite his immense fall from grace, the ex-Prince is also said to be deluded about the dire reality of his situation. Such is Andrew’s level of entitlement, he is reportedly still insisting on HRH titles at home, and is making his staff bow or curtsy when entering a room.
Rob Shuter’s #ShuterScoop reports that actually “nothing has changed inside Royal Lodge.” A household insider said: “The butler still says Your Royal Highness, and the staff still bow. Andrew’s made it clear — palace rules don’t apply inside his walls. He insists it’s his birthright — not something the King can erase.”
It echoes comments in Lownie’s book, in which he revealed that royal staff were instructed to bow for Andrew anytime he entered a room. When anyone forgot, he would allegedly say, “Let’s try that again,” before leaving the room only to walk back in.
Elsewhere in his 2025 biography, Lownie recounts an incident when Andrew was verbally abusive towards David Anderson, the former head of the household at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland.
Following a severe storm at the castle in 2005, Andrew asked Anderson – who had served the royal family for over 20 years – whether there was any damage to the estate. “Yes, sir,” Mr Anderson is said to have replied. “The tree which was planted by the Queen Mother.” This was followed by a withering silence, then Andrew said in a mocking voice, “Did you mean Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother?”
“He then asked the poor man how long he had worked for the Royal Family. Mr Anderson replied, ‘I joined in 1984, sir,’” the book states.”And you still don’t know the proper way to refer to my grandmother? You f***ing imbecile. Get out,” Andrew is claimed to have said.
