Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was finally removed from public life after odd ITV show moment
A royal author has alleged that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was removed from public life after he appeared as a question during a political debate ahead of the 2019 General Election
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor(Image: PA)
A royal author has claimed that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was finally removed from public life, not after his bombshell interview with Emily Maitlis on the BBC, but after he became a question on ITV.
Following his BBC Newsnight interview in November 2019, in which Andrew addressed his interactions with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew was also a question in a general election debate. Said ITV general election debate was between the then-Prime Minister and the then-leader of the opposition.
According to royal expert Robert Hardman in his book ‘Elizabeth II In Private. In Public The Inside Story’, it was after Andrew became a question that the Queen “knew she had no option” but to remove her second-born child from public life.
This was also after he had “broken the cast-iron royal rule that the family should keep a low profile during general elections”.
Mr Hardman claimed: “When he even surfaced as a question in a televised debate featuring party leaders, the Queen knew that she had no option.
Queen Elizabeth II and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor(Image: Getty)
“In tandem with the Prince of Wales, she could see no alternative to Andrew’s removal from public life. After all, public duties only work when the public wants to see someone, as they manifestly did not in this case.”
This isn’t the only occasion when Andrew standing down from a role is discussed by Mr Hardman in the book, as he also assesses the period between 2012 and 2016 and how the then-Prime Minister informed the monarch that her eldest son had to step down from a role he held.
Andrew’s role at the time was as an ambassador for British trade and the now-Lord David Cameron told Mr Hardman that he had to gently advise the monarch that the former Duke of York had to step down over allegations about his relationship with Epstein. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor(Image: AP)
Lord Cameron said: “I think I was responsible for gently saying to Her Majesty that he had to stand down as a trade envoy. 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.”
He also said there were other factors that had caused him to recommend Andrew step down, including comments that the he had been making.
He added: “It had been getting embarrassing. 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.”
