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Prince Andrew called a staff member in the Royal Household a “f***ing imbecile” for not referring to the Queen Mother by her full title, a new book has claimed.
The book, called Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, written by Andrew Lownie, claims the Duke of York could be “unbelievably cruel” to royal staff.
After a severe storm in Northern Ireland in 2005, Prince Andrew asked head of Hillborough Castle David Anderson if there had been any damage, Mr Lownie writes.
“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,” Prince Andrew is claimed to have said.
Representatives for the Duke of York did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the book, Prince Andrew’s catchphrase for royal staff was “I want this done and I want this done now. Do it!”
In extracts serialised in the Daily Mail, Mr Lownie claims in his book that the relationship between the Duke of York and his younger nephews, William and Harry, was “problematic”.
The Duke of York, who fell from grace over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, the late financier and convicted paedophile, is alleged to have accused Prince Hary of going “bonkers” for marrying Ms Markle.
The source quoted in Lownie’s book claimed that the Duke of Sussex later told his brother, the Prince of Wales, that “he hated Andrew”.
The book claims there “have been tensions between the two men for years”, including instances where the Duke of York is said to have been rude about the Princess of Wales.