Big Rumors About Prince Andrew We Couldn't Ignore

Some people are magnets for rumors due to endless criminal allegations and sheer incompetence, and Prince Andrew is one of them. A controversial character to say the least, the Duke of York has seared his infamous name into the collective consciousness of people around the globe. The prince has a penchant for dodging accountability and embroiling himself in controversy after controversy. From his involvement in sexual abuse allegations to underhanded business deals and posing a threat to his own country's national security, the man simply cannot pick a decent pal to save his life.

His reputation as a reprehensible public figure and the root of many unsettling rumors has led to serious dishonors and humiliations, both on his part and that of his family. His consistent inability to serve as an upstanding royal has led not only to his removal from public life but to abuses and suffering beyond comprehension. Considering the severity of his offenses and lack of apologies cut deeply into public opinion, it doesn't seem like these huge rumors will let up any time soon.

The kind of company one keeps is a reflection of their own priorities, values, and character. Therefore, it isn't surprising that Prince Andrew's unapologetic, long-term friendship with pedophile and sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was the cause of his abysmal fall from grace both in the eyes of the public and within the royal family.

Since the 1990s, Prince Andrew maintained a cordial relationship with Jeffrey Epstein after being introduced by a mutual connection, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who would later be revealed as a co-conspirator of Epstein's and a fellow perpetrator of many of the same crimes involving the sex-trafficking of minors. Critiques of the prince's involvement with Epstein grew in volume after the latter was convicted for soliciting prostitution with a minor in 2008. He was sentenced to a mere 18 months in a minimum-security prison, of which he only served 13 months before being released. In the years leading up to the conviction, Epstein had been accused of 60 criminal counts detailed in an indictment by an assistant U.S. attorney. Despite knowing he was a convicted sex offender at that time, Prince Andrew was recorded leaving Epstein's home in New York in December 2010 and photographed walking alongside him in Central Park.

Prince Andrew was a frequent visitor of Jeffrey Epstein and was known to stay for weeks at the disgraced financier's home in Palm Beach, Florida. He was subsequently accused of receiving "daily massages" according to a 2009 testimony provided by former Epstein employee Juan Alessi, who insinuated that Andrew partook in the crime of sexually abusing young girls during his visits (via the BBC).

However, Prince Andrew denied any crimes in his disastrous "Newsnight" interview in 2019, and continued to downplay the extent of his knowledge regarding Epstein and Maxwell's sex trafficking exploits. Furthermore, the prince showed little remorse for his friendship with Epstein or compassion of his victims, and offered evasive and downright ridiculous answers to the allegations of his own misconduct. Despite maintaining that he cut off his relationship with Epstein in 2010, unearthed emails suggest Prince Andrew's ties to Epstein went on longer than he claimed, and that he was still in contact with him in August, 2011. 

Being a member of the British royal family, one would think Prince Andrew would be exceedingly mindful of maintaining a high standard of national security; however, one of his most prevalent blunders of state is how he became a "close confidante" (per the BBC) to a man who was banned from the U.K. for being an alleged Chinese spy.

In 2023, Yang Tengbo, a close friend of Prince Andrew, was accused by British authorities of influencing foreign powers on behalf of the United Front Work Department and the Chinese Communist Party. Concerns surrounding the extent of Tengbo's influence over Andrew arose during the prince's birthday party in 2020 when the alleged spy was told he was welcome to act on behalf of Andrew during interactions with Chinese investors. Tengbo's "unusual degree of trust" with the Duke of York was viewed as a clear overreach by British officials. He was questioned by U.K. border police the following year for suspected "hostile acts" toward the U.K. by attempting to leverage his influence over Prince Andrew. In response to Tengbo's attempts to manipulate a member of the royal family, then-house secretary Suella Braverman expelled Tengbo from Britain, a decision which he appealed. He was eventually upheld by the courts as "​​justified and proportionate" on account that his presence in the country was considered "a risk to the national security of the United Kingdom."

In an attempt to perform some semblance of damage control, Prince Andrew stated that he had cut ties with Tengbo and claimed "nothing of a sensitive nature [was] ever discussed," per a statement from his office (via the Independent).

In 2015, allegations of Prince Andrew's sexual misconduct toward Virginia Giuffre were brought up in court, but were dismissed as "immaterial and impertinent" at the time. Giuffre stated that she was coerced by Jeffrey Epstein to have sex with the duke and was flown to London on Epstein's private jet for that expressed purpose. During the 2019 BBC "Newsnight" interview, Emily Maitlis asked for his response to the allegations concerning the events of that visit, saying, "She says she met you in 2001, she says she dined with you, danced with you at Tramp Nightclub in London. She went on to have sex with you in a house in Belgravia belonging to Ghislaine Maxwell, your friend," to which Prince Andrew responded, "I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever." His denial of having ever met Giuffre was disproven by a photo of him posing with the then-17-year-old at Maxwell's London home.

In 2019, Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein, stating that she had been sexually abused by him and trafficked to Prince Andrew in the U.S., the U.K., and on Epstein's private island, Little Saint James. The duke denied the allegations. Later, in 2022, Giuffre brought a civil suit against Prince Andrew, which was ultimately settled out of court for a sum estimated at around £12 million total in damages to Giuffre and in required donations to charities supporting the rights of sexual abuse victims.

Queen Elizabeth II had her hands full with attempts to pay her younger son's way out of the consequences of his actions. Prince Andrew reportedly enjoyed the benefits of being the late monarch's favorite child, a position which afforded him seemingly unconditional support in times of incredible failure and wrongdoing. Her willingness to side with the duke amidst the scandal of his affiliation with Jeffrey Epstein and the allegations of sexual abuse from Virginia Giuffre raised eyebrows across the U.K., with many calling for the queen to enact real consequences for her son. She did force Prince Andrew to step down from his royal duties in the aftermath of the painful "Newsnight" interview, but the action felt like a mere slap on the wrist in comparison to the monumental damage the duke had done both to the victim of his abuse and to the reputation of his family.

His mother was resistant at first to punishing her favorite child and even chose Prince Andrew to support her during Prince Philip's memorial service in 2022, which occurred while the prince was still deeply embroiled in the Epstein scandal. The Independent reported that after news broke that Giuffre was bringing a civil suit against Prince Andrew in 2022, the queen intended to spend millions of pounds to fund her son's defense, but when a U.S. judge allowed the case to go to trial, the royal family felt the need to distance themselves from the spectacle. The duke was stripped of his royal patronage and military titles and was forced to face the trial as a "private citizen."

A 2025 biography about Prince Andrew called "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York" by Andrew Lownie brought with it a new flurry of unflattering details surrounding the duke's public and private life. One standout allegation mentioned in the book was that Prince Andrew has a history of being a terrible bully, especially to members of his staff.

The book further elaborates on his tantrums and unsightly responses to minor inconveniences or perceived offenses. He once ordered a staff member to leave his sight for wearing a nylon tie, verbally abused his head of household for not referring to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, as simply, "The Queen Mother," moved a staff member to other duties because of a mole on his face, and berated an aide over the phone because he was upset about bad press.

Reports of this nature are not only present in the book. Channel 5 aired a scathing documentary titled "Andrew and Fergie: The Duke and Duchess of Excess" in which similar accusations of cruelty toward aides and employees of Prince Andrew's household were addressed. "Andrew was particularly horrible to staff," Lownie stated during the documentary. "He doesn't seem to see them as normal people. ... He treats them as basically subordinates to be bossed around. I think he's very narcissistic and everything is about him."

Since it is the standard practice of the royal family not to own businesses in their own names, they typically place ownership of these entities in the name of "nominees" while still exercising the usual functions of ownership. Prince Andrew's business Pitch@Palace is a network for entrepreneurs to connect with potential investors, business mentors, and gain credibility for their promising startups — think "Shark Tank" without the cameras or dramatic pitches. The company was started by Prince Andrew in 2014, and by 2017, Pitch@Place Global Ltd, the expanded, for-profit, international arm of the company, came into existence under the name of the duke's personal secretary, Amanda Thirsk.

The controversy came into play in 2021 when ownership of Pitch@Palace Global Ltd was transferred into the ownership of Knox House Trustees (UK) Limited, which was an entity owned by Doug Barrowman, a millionaire known for promoting tax fraud schemes and shady business practices. The transfer of Pitch@Palace Global Ltd into the hands of an entity solely owned by Barrowman is interesting considering that the millionaire stated that he "at no time ... had any business or personal involvement with the duke" (via the BBC).

Author of "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York," Andrew Lownie, remarked upon the duke's choice of business partners, stating, "Andrew has a long history of associating with dubious business figures and disguising his business activities behind nominee and offshore accounts. There really needs to be a full investigation into the duke's financial activities."

An update to King Charles III's biography noted that Prince Andrew is no longer on the royal payroll, meaning he no longer receives income or funding for his security at his current place of residence, Royal Lodge. The change came after a series of unfortunate events unfolding in the duke's life. The first was that he was not a "working royal" and had been without his formal royal patronage since 2022, and Buckingham Palace scrambled to save face by distancing itself from the crimes of the once coddled duke. The second reason leading to this shift in the duke's financial situation was his financially irreconcilable presence at Royal Lodge itself.

Until 2024, King Charles footed the bill for the upkeep and security detail required for Prince Andrew to remain at the gigantic Windsor residence, but no more. The updated biography reported that Charles was not willing to financially support his younger brother forever, which meant that Andrew would need to move from Royal Lodge to the comfortable, but more modest and manageable Frogmore Cottage, the former home of the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, or find a way to pay for his expensive maintenance and security at Royal Lodge himself.

Surprisingly, Prince Andrew managed to gather the funds to remain at Royal Lodge by reportedly legitimate means, namely by the sale of his marital home, Sunninghill Park, and a ski chalet in Switzerland.

The 2019 "Newsnight" interview served as a boiling point for many who found themselves involved with Prince Andrew — most notably, he and his brother, King Charles III, have not been on the best of terms.

After being relieved of his royal duties at the hand of Queen Elizabeth II following the trainwreck interview, Andrew tried to finesse his way back into public life as a royal, particularly by leveraging his mother's goodwill at the memorial service of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. However, Charles would not stand to see the reputation of the royal family dragged through the mud again on account of his brother's scandals.

With patience worn thin, Charles made it clear that the distance between Andrew and the privileges of royal life was to be maintained. Per The Times and on behalf of Charles, a close source stated that Andrew's "unwelcome reputational damage to the institution" was "an unsolvable problem," in reference to the allegations brought against him by Virginia Giuffre. The insider honed in on this point, affirming that "the specter of this [accusation] raises its head with hideous regularity" and that a "way back for the duke is demonstrably not possible."

The sensational release of "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York" brought to light multiple conflicts between Prince Andrew, the law, the public, his employees, and of course, his own family. It was alleged in the book that Prince Andrew and Prince Harry engaged in an exchange of blows over insulting remarks aimed toward Harry's then-girlfriend, Meghan Markle, who would later become the Duchess of Sussex. The Duke of York had reportedly stated that Meghan was an "opportunist" and was "too old for Harry."

Despite the book stating that there was a physical fight between uncle and nephew which resulted in the former's bloody nose, a spokesperson for the Sussexes firmly asserted that there was no physical altercation. "I can confirm Prince Harry and Prince Andrew have never had a physical fight, nor did Prince Andrew ever make the comments he is alleged to have made about the Duchess of Sussex to Prince Harry," the source said (via The Guardian). Moreover, the spokesperson said that the rumors of the fight were so intensely inaccurate and damaging that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sent a legal letter to the Daily Mail, an outlet that widely circulated the story.

Strangely enough, one of Prince Andrew's most devoted supporters and friends is none other than his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Their story is an unconventional one filled with a placid connection and keen disappointments, but Sarah's support has been an oddly steadfast constant in the midst of Andrew's ongoing bouts of scandal and turmoil.

Although they first met as children, Andrew and Sarah were officially introduced by Princess Diana. The pair fell for one another relatively quickly and married in 1986, but the union between Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson was far from perfect. The pair separated in 1992 following the births of their two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and after less than 10 years together. They officially divorced in 1996, with Sarah citing Prince Andrew's regular absence from her life and that of their children's as part of the reason they chose to end their marriage. However, Sarah's illicit liaisons with two different men during their long stretches of separation were said to fan the flames of divorce as well. Sarah also stated that she wanted to work, and her status as a royal prevented her from doing so. 

Despite the split, Andrew and Sarah still live together at Royal Lodge and have a very cordial relationship. Their living arrangements have long confused royal fans and journalists alike, but apparently, being friends and roommates works better for them than being married. The Duchess of York remains a strong support for Prince Andrew, despite his sexual abuse allegations, national security risks, shady business associates, and general family drama.