A royal professional reveals the “sneaky tactic” Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor used to bypass Palace officers.
A royal professional reveals the ‘sneaky tactic’ Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor used to bypass Palace officers. (Picture: Getty)
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor employed a “sneaky tactic” to govern the late Queen Elizabeth II and bypass official protocol, a royal professional has claimed. The previous Duke of York, 66, has lengthy been considered the late monarch’s “favorite” baby – a standing he reportedly used to his benefit by exploiting a selected window within the Queen’s weekly schedule.
Talking on HELLO!’s A Proper Royal Podcast, Robert Hardman, the acclaimed writer of Elizabeth II, revealed how Mr Mountbatten-Windsor would wait till the coast was away from royal aides earlier than making his transfer. “He did have a tactic which was, at any time when he was informed he could not do one thing or one thing was unattainable, his favorite approach of countermanding it could be to go spherical and have tea with Mummy on a Sunday afternoon, as a result of there have been no officers round,” Mr Hardman mentioned. In line with the professional, these personal Sunday periods allowed him to bypass the strict guidelines enforced by the Palace’s “males in gray fits”.
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“It was when officers have been round that they’d normally say, ‘Properly, I am sorry Sir, we will’t do that, we will’t try this,’” he defined.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor would current his requests on to the Queen, figuring out that with out her advisors current she was extra prone to grant his needs (Picture: Getty)
The writer recommended that in these intimate tea instances, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor would current his requests on to the Queen, figuring out that with out her advisors current to supply a counter-argument, she was much more prone to grant his needs.
“So on a Sunday at tea, Andrew would say, ‘Oh Mummy, you would not imagine what they’ve informed me I am unable to do. It is ridiculous. I am positive you do not thoughts me doing this. It is going to be a good suggestion. You will need to agree,'” Mr Hardman added.
“And he or she’d finally say, ‘Alright, sure.’ After which on Monday morning he’d say, ‘No, it’s fairly alright. I’ve received the Queen’s permission. It is going to occur. I’ll do XYZ.'”
Robert additionally spoke about her late Majesty’s relationship together with her 4 kids, whom she shared with Prince Philip. Whereas the late Queen usually anxious that Princess Anne, now 75, “labored too laborious”, she was involved for her second-oldest son for a distinct cause. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor, nevertheless, was usually susceptible to committing a royal fake pas, particularly throughout his time within the Royal Navy, Mr Hardman defined.
“That was a distinct type of fear. However with Andrew, she may see that the others have been self-starters. They have been assured that they’d get on with life. However Andrew was headstrong, sheepish; he’s usually described as the beginning of her second household, as a result of he got here alongside 10 years after Anne, and he was a bouncy, full of life baby, and she or he adored him, clearly,” he mentioned.
“However by the point he was a younger grownup, it was fairly clear that he was fairly impressionable. He was a bit boorish. He may say the fallacious factor, do the fallacious factor. They tried to maintain him on within the Royal Navy as a result of the one factor he was good at was flying helicopters. However by 2001, the Navy mentioned, ‘Look, there’s nothing we will do.'”
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor stepped down from royal duties in 2019 following his BBC Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis and ongoing scrutiny over his hyperlinks to the convicted intercourse offender, Jeffrey Epstein. He stored his “prince” and “Duke of York” titles till October 2025, when King Charles stripped him of his remaining honours.
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