Biographer reveals What Diana said about Andrew - and why she mistrusted him
Princess Diana is said to have met her brother-in-law Prince Andrew with great skepticism. According to a royal biographer, she had a bad feeling about him early on - and made her reservations clear even in her closest circle.
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- According to royal biographer Andrew Lownie, Princess Diana was suspicious of her brother-in-law Prince Andrew from an early age.
- Diana is said to have perceived him as unambitious and contradictory and made her distant relationship with him clear even in her closest circle.
- In the wake of Andrew's arrest and the renewed debate about his links to Jeffrey Epstein, earlier tensions within the Royal Family also came back into focus.
While the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in connection with the Epstein scandal is making headlines around the world, his previous links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are also once again coming under the spotlight. The arrest also intensifies the debate about the role of the Royal Family. Many wonder why the disgraced ex-prince was able to remain part of the inner circle for so long.
But at least one member of the royal family apparently made no secret of his attitude: Princess Diana is said to have met her brother-in-law with noticeable skepticism. Her relationship with Andrew was said to be distant and characterized by mistrust.
Princess Diana was "not a fan" of Prince Andrew
According to a royal biographer, Princess Diana harbored reservations about her brother-in-law from an early age. The mother of Prince William and Prince Harry experienced Andrew as loud and sometimes quick-tempered - qualities that irritated her.
In his book "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York", author Andrew Lownie writes that Diana was "no fan" of Andrew. He quotes the former Princess of Wales as saying: "He was very, very loud and intrusive." Something about his manner deeply disturbed her. "It occurred to me that something was bothering him," she is reported to have once said.
Diana soon realized that Andrew's personality was "not for her". Elsewhere, she is said to have said about him that he "loved to sit in front of the television all day and watch cartoons and videos".
Another thing that is said to have bothered her was his lack of ambition. Andrew was "not a doer", Diana is said to have said about the then duke, according to Lownie.
Favorite son of Philip and the Queen?
Lownie describes Andrew as a contradictory figure: "Hard-working and polite one moment, aggressive and rude the next." Like his father Prince Philip, he had a hot temper, cultivated a dry sense of humor and had little patience with people he considered incompetent.
According to the biographer, these traits also shaped the dynamics within the family. While Charles was considered sensitive and thoughtful, Andrew was self-confident, macho and extroverted - allegedly just the way his father liked it. Philip is said to have preferred him to his eldest son at times.
Andrew is also said to have been the favorite child of Queen Elizabeth II, who is said to have always held a protective hand over him until her death in autumn 2022.