This seems to be a running theme, with Andrew Lownie’s book Entitled frequently citing people who are very critical of the former prince and his rudeness. This has been mentioned to Lownie again recently, with one example making it into the new chapter of Entitled, which is out in the paperback version of the book on May 21.
Lownie, who has relied on trusted sources in his novel, recalled a story he had been told about Andrew when he had been seconded to a nuclear submarine.
As Andrew had allegedly been rude to fellow crew members, they decided to play a cruel prank on him.
The author wrote: “Seconded to a nuclear submarine, Andrew ‘generally behaved like an arse to everyone,’ said one crewman, and the then duke criticised another submariner for ‘dressing slovenly’.
“After Andrew left a pair of kid-leather flying gloves behind in the control room, the submariner took them into the bathroom, ‘did something unspeakable and then returned the glove’, which did much to raise the morale of the crew.”
It is not known how the former duke responded to this prank when he realised what had happened.
Lownie wrote: “A stewardess on a first-class British Airways flight to New York in 2010 tells of how, after he requested a bottle of water, he complained it was too cold.
“She apologised and said all the water was in the chiller, so he undid his flies, shoved the bottle of water down his trousers and said, ‘This will warm it up.’”