Andrew Windsor’s ‘exploitation’ of Queen Elizabeth exposed

Another source said the claims reinforce long-held perceptions about Andrew’s position within the royal family.

They added: ‘Andrew was widely seen as the Queen’s favorite child, and with that came a level of access that others did not have. The concern is that this access was not always handled with the same discipline expected of someone in their role, causing friction behind the scenes.”

Hardman also reflected on Elizabeth’s relationship with her other children, including Princess Anne, now 75.

He said the Queen regarded Anne as a workaholic but was concerned about Andrew’s temperament and judgement.

Hardman added, “That was a different kind of worry. But with Andrew, she could see that the others were self-starters. They were confident that they would go on with life. But Andrew was headstrong and sheepish; he is often described as the beginning of her second family, because he came ten years after Anne, and he was a bouncy, lively child, and she clearly adored him.”

Hardman noted that the concerns persisted into adulthood, especially during Andrew’s Navy career.

“But by the time Andrew was a young adult, it was pretty clear that he was quite impressionable,” he said. “He was a bit clumsy. He could say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing. They tried to keep him in the Royal Navy because the only thing he was good at was flying helicopters. But in 2001 the Navy said, ‘Look, there’s nothing we can do.'”

Andrew stepped back from his royal duties in 2019 catastrophic News night interview amid enormous criticism over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and later lost his remaining royal titles under his older brother, King Charles III, in 2025.