{"id":314487,"date":"2025-08-03T12:24:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T12:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/314487\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T12:24:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T12:24:14","slug":"prince-andrew-called-staff-member-a-fing-imbecile-new-book-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/314487\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Andrew called staff member a \u2018f***ing imbecile\u2019, new book claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 cKWiEj\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 huxBsk\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n<p>Prince Andrew called a staff member in the Royal Household a \u201cf***ing imbecile\u201d for not referring to the Queen Mother by her full title, a new book has<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/life-style\/royal-family\/wallis-simpson-king-abdication-china-b2798872.html\"> claimed.<\/p>\n<p>The book, called Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/york\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">York<\/a>, written by Andrew Lownie, claims the Duke of York could be \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/tv\/lifestyle\/king-charles-scotland-kilt-video-caithness-b2797549.html\">unbelievably cruel<\/a>\u201d to royal staff.<\/p>\n<p>After a severe storm in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/northern-ireland\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Northern Ireland<\/a> in 2005, Prince Andrew asked head of Hillborough Castle David Anderson if there had been<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/prince-george-birthday-photo-william-kate-b2793546.html\"> any damage,<\/a> Mr Lownie writes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, sir,\u201d Mr Anderson is said to have replied. \u201cThe tree which was planted by the Queen Mother.\u201d This was followed by a withering silence, then Andrew said in a mocking voice, \u201cDid you mean Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe then asked the poor man how long he had worked for the royal family. Mr Anderson replied, \u2018I joined in 1984, sir,\u2019\u201d the book states.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you still don\u2019t know the proper way to refer to my grandmother? You f***ing imbecile. Get out,\u201d Prince Andrew is claimed to have said.<\/p>\n<p>Representatives for the Duke of York did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>According to the book, Prince Andrew\u2019s catchphrase for royal staff was \u201cI want this done and I want this done now. Do it!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201cproblematic\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Duke of York, who fell from grace over his links to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/jeffrey-epstein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>, the late financier and convicted paedophile, is alleged to have accused Prince Hary of going \u201cbonkers\u201d for marrying Ms Markle.<\/p>\n<p>The source quoted in Lownie\u2019s book claimed that the Duke of Sussex later told his brother, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/prince-of-wales\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prince of Wales<\/a>, that \u201che hated Andrew\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The book claims there \u201chave been tensions between the two men for years\u201d, including instances where the Duke of York is said to have been rude about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/princess-of-wales\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Princess of Wales<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7708],"tags":[5105,7710,519,448],"class_list":{"0":"post-314487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-royals","8":"tag-royal","9":"tag-royal-families","10":"tag-royal-family","11":"tag-royals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114964821642843033","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}