A royal expert has revealed the two things that made Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor “different” from the rest of the royal family.
In a new book titled Elizabeth II: In Private, In Public – The Inside Story, royal author Robert Hardman has opened up about his encounters with the royal family, and in particular, the things that made the disgraced former prince stand out.
“Philip was fascinating and sharp — you really had to keep your wits about you. Ditto Charles. The Princess Royal is fabulous — I’ve followed her around and could barely keep up. William and Harry can effortlessly work a room, charming everyone and putting them at ease,” Hardman told The Telegraph.
“But Andrew just isn’t as intelligent or as articulate as the others,” he revealed.
“As trade envoy, he was forever saying disobliging things and putting his foot in it. He’d be at a telecoms conference and suddenly come out with the line, ‘What is Orange?’”
In his new book, Hardman also claims that the former UK Prime Minister David Cameron had to gently push the disgraced former prince to stand down as trade envoy due to his close ties with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
“I think I was responsible for gently saying to Her Majesty that he had to stand down as a trade envoy,” Lord Cameron says in the book. “It was all pretty much fixed.
“But I was just to reference it for the official log. The Queen was worried about him but she could see the logic.”
However, Lord Cameron said it wasn’t just the former prince’s relationship with Epstein that was causing problems.
“It had been getting embarrassing,” he said. “Andrew kept turning up to things and making terrible remarks.
“I’d seen it myself at Davos where he was going to his receptions and was just a bit crass. He had his way of doing things and it wasn’t what you wanted.
“He was very good with all the tyrants but he started being opinionated saying we were too squeamish about dealing with these people. His speeches would always just have three or four inappropriate things.”
It’s not yet clear what “inappropriate things” Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was saying exactly, but he’s been no stranger to controversy over the past few months.
On February 19, Mr Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on the suspicion of misconduct in public office. The arrest coincided with his 66th birthday and shocked the world.
He worked as trade envoy from 2001 until 2011, during which time he was also in communication with Epstein. As the US Department of Justice continued to release files in 2026, fresh accusations that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor had shared sensitive information with Epstein arose.
The former prince was held for questioning for 11 hours before he was released. Though he was not charged, investigations continue, and he is being held under bail-like conditions on account of his brother King Charles, not the police.
