A friend of the late Queen Elizabeth has spoken out about Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and claimed he was always quite a handful – even as a young child
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was bitter as a child, according to a friend of the late Queen. Lady Anne Glenconner has shed light on the disgraced man, formerly known as Prince Andrew.
The admission came just hours before it emerged that Andrew had been summoned to Congress to discuss his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In a letter sent to Andrew, Democratic members of the House committee on oversight say they believe he may have crucial information about co-conspirators and enablers of Epstein’s crimes.
Robert Garcia, the most senior Democratic member of the committee, said: “Rich and powerful men have evaded justice for far too long. Now, former Prince Andrew has the opportunity to come clean and provide justice for the survivors.” It was also confirmed today that King Charles had legally removed his younger sibling of all his regal titles, including Royal Highness and Prince, having issued Letters Patent. Over the past few years, Andrew, 65, has come under pressure following his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
In 2022, Andrew officially stopped using Royal Highness in a public capacity but retained the ability to use it personally. But last month, the King started historic proceedings to strip his sibling of all his honours and titles. In a new interview, Lady Glenconner, who was a friend of Andrew’s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth and his aunt, Princess Margaret, has shed light on his childhood.
“He was quite forceful. I remember him snatching toys away from my son,” Lady Glenconner said. When asked by Jane Garvey if he was a handful as a child, Lady Glenconner replied: “Yes. He was a handful. I think that’s what his nanny called him, a handful.
“I knew Andrew because my son Henry was born three weeks after Andrew and because the Queen had him rather late in life, and all her friends’ children were grown up she wrote to me, I wrote to her and we exchanged something called a romper suit, which is what boys wore in those days and he used to come down with Mabel, his nanny, quite often to visit us.”
But Lady Glenconner, 93, believes that Andrew’s late mother allowed him to get away with more than his siblings, then Prince Charles and Princess Anne. There have been claims that Andrew was Queen Elizabeth’s favourite child and was said to be her “golden boy”.
“Maybe he was allowed to get away with more than the King and Princess Anne, yes,” she said. During her appearance on the Off Air with Jane & Fi podcast, Lady Glenconner, a bestselling author, went on to add: “I felt and a lot of my friends felt we’d been through a war, we had rationing, we were frightened, and there was the Queen and Princess Margaret at Windsor and we wanted to compensate.”
Lady Glenconner explained that she and her friends wanted to give their children a life they didn’t have due to World War Two while they were teens. Her own mother believed that Lady Glenconner had “spoiled” her children, The Hon. Charles Tennant, The Hon. Henry Tennant, The Hon. Christopher Tennant, The Hon. May Creasy, and The Hon. Amy Tennant by taking them abroad throughout their childhood.
Earlier today, the King delivered the final blow to his brother. He issued a Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm – a legal document authorised by the monarch. It was published in The Gazette, the UK’s official public record, by the Crown Office and shows that Andrew is no longer entitled to be a prince or hold the style ‘Royal Highness’.
The entry, published on Wednesday, read: “THE KING has been pleased by Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the Realm dated 3 November 2025 to declare that Andrew Mountbatten Windsor shall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of ‘Royal Highness’ and the titular dignity of ‘Prince’.”
Andrew was accused by Virginia Giuffre of having sex with her in March 2001, when she was just 17. She alleged she had been trafficked by Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. Virginia claimed that Epstein and his girlfriend had taken her to Tramp nightclub in London, where she met with Andrew and later had sex with him that night.
She claimed that Epstein had paid her $15,000 after sleeping with Andrew. During an interview with BBC’s Newsnight in 2019, Andrew vehemently denied the allegations and told host Emily Maitlis he had no recollection of meeting Virginia. Andrew vehemently denies all allegations made against him.
Off Air with Jane & Fi from Times Radio.
Source: Mirror
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