The Truth About Prince Andrew's Relationship With Prince Harry
Prince Andrew's relationship with nephew Prince Harry is probably a little complicated. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, is the third child of Queen Elizabeth II and the late Prince Phillip. Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is the son of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, Andrew's older brother. Notably, both men have older siblings who will one day become king, and it's unlikely either Andrew or Harry will ever rule. According to the United Kingdom's line of succession, Harry is currently sixth in line for the throne and Andrew is ninth in line.
While the two have quite a few things in common, such as serving their country (Harry in the military and Andrew in the navy), having a tendency to create scandalous headlines, and being the oddballs of the royal family, the two likely couldn't be more different.
From their youthful misconduct to their scandals to family tension, check out the truth about Prince Harry and Prince Andrew's relationship.
They both had rebellious reputations
Both Prince Harry and Prince Andrew have been known for making headlines for their youthful indiscretions. According to the BBC, in 2002, the News of the World reported that a 17-year-old Harry was being sent to rehab by his father as punishment for smoking pot. After the incident, St James' Palace established that Prince Harry did, in fact, "experiment" with marijuana but was certainly not a "regular" user. There were also headlines about the young Harry playing strip billiards, reportedly getting into a scrape with a cameraman, and wearing an extremely inappropriate costume when he dressed as a Nazi (yeah, really). Still, whether it's to protect his family from embarrassment or because he's truly a stand-up guy, Harry always seemed to admit his own fault in these situations and apologized publicly.
Prince Andrew has also been known for multiple scandals that have followed him into adulthood. Unlike Prince Harry, however, Prince Andrew's scandals usually surrounded his relationships with women rather than the ill-advised rambunctiousness of youth. According to Express, Andrew has struggled to rid himself of his "Randy Andy" reputation for years (both before and after his relationship and decade-long marriage with Sarah Ferguson). Outside of his long-term relationships, including his scandalous 18-month-long relationship with actress Koo Stark (with whom he broke up after topless images of her from the '70s resurfaced), Andrew has been known for frequently being seen with good-looking women.
Did Prince Andrew call Prince Harry out in 2018?
While some may think that these two men, who are both the rebellious black sheep of the royal family, would get along, Prince Andrew and Prince Harry don't seem like the buddies some may think they'd be. In fact, in 2018, Prince Andrew's daughter Princess Eugenie married her husband, Jack Brooksbank, a mere five months after Prince Harry married his wife, Meghan Markle. And, in an interview with "This Morning" (via The Mirror), Prince Andrew made comments that many viewers of the show took as negative and even competitive. For example, he said, "It will NOT be the same as the previous one that was held in May. This is not a public wedding, this is meant to be a family wedding."
Despite Andrew's comment about his daughter's wedding being for "family," presumably as compared to Harry and Meghan's wedding, Princess Eugenie and her groom invited more guests. "There'll be a few more people than most people have. There are a few more than Harry had, but that's just the nature of Eugenie and Jack — they've got so many friends that they need a church of that size to fit them all in," Andrew noted.
Perhaps Prince Andrew was merely poking some good-natured fun at his nephew, but it's also possible he was throwing some shade.
Some think Harry was uncomfortable with how Andrew treated his staff
Rumors have circulated for years that Prince Andrew is not very polite to household staff. A former royal aide told The U.S. Sun, "I've seen him treat his staff in a shocking, appalling way," claiming, "He's been incredibly rude to his personal protection officers, literally throwing things on the ground and demanding that they 'f***ing pick them up'. No social graces at all." But while some royal family members may not be phased by Andrew's alleged behavior, Prince Harry may not have been so happy about it.
According to the 2013 biography "Harry: The People's Prince" by Chris Hutchins, as noted by Express, Prince Harry was raised with exceptional manners by his mother, Princess Diana. This reportedly led Harry to make a face when his uncle was rude to royal staff. Former Kensington Palace chef Darren McGrady, who was interviewed for the book, explained, "Andrew always came straight to the point and told you exactly what he wanted. Whereas Harry had been taught to say 'Please may I have...', Andrew would bark, 'Where are my mangoes? I want my mangoes.'"
Harry reportedly doesn't want to become his uncle
According to The Times, Prince Harry is worried about becoming unimportant. Harry told The Times, "There's nothing worse than going through a period in your life where you're making a massive difference and then suddenly ... you drop off." He went on, "You want to make a difference but no one's listening to you."
According to a reported friend of Prince Harry, this has been a concern for the prince ever since he was a working royal. Harry's friend told The Times that Prince Harry, concerned about becoming "boring" and younger royals receiving more attention, is "worried that after that, he'll turn into his uncle." Based on this, it seems clear that Harry wants to continue working hard to help others, something he may not believe his uncle Prince Andrew was successful at. We wonder what Andrew thinks about all this.
Neither have royal or honorary military titles anymore
As of early 2022, neither Prince Andrew and Prince Harry retain their royal and honorary military titles. However, the reasons behind why they no longer have their titles is very different. Prince Harry, along with his wife, Meghan Markle, willingly gave up royal life in early 2021. According to The New York Times, while the queen allowed the couple to keep their titles as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, they agreed to no longer use the "Royal Highness" title in any of their charity work and gave up their royal duties to be divvied up amongst remaining royals. Although the deal allowed for a review after a year, Harry insisted to the queen that they would not "be returning as working members of the royal family."
According to The Washington Post, Prince Andrew, on the other hand, was stripped of his honorary military and royal titles, unable to use "His Royal Highness" in 2022. After a New York judge ruled that the sexual assault case against Andrew wouldn't be thrown out and 150 British veterans wrote to the queen, calling her son "an embarrassment," the queen was left with no other choice but to take away his titles and force him to fight his battle alone.
They both rely on Princess Eugenie for support
Princess Eugenie, Prince Andrew's daughter and Prince Harry's cousin, has seemingly been caught in the middle of her family's drama. According to the NZ Herald, Eugenie has always been close with her cousin Harry and was known as his biggest supporter when he and his wife, Meghan Markle, decided to leave royal life behind and move to California, likely putting her in an awkward position with the rest of her family back home.
Now, with her father's sexual assault scandal, she is being put in the middle of the royal family drama again. According to the NZ Herald, Princess Eugenie had been reportedly planning to support Harry during the release of his upcoming memoir, perhaps in hopes of mending the familial tension of late. However, with her father's recent scandal, she will likely be forced to pick her father over helping Harry. "Of course she wants to be there for Andrew and stay involved as the family strategizes on how to move forward. Eugenie is very close to her father," a source told Best Life (via NZ Herald). "She may also feel she doesn't want to drag Harry's name into all this in the media by association."
While Harry and Andrew may not be friendly these days, they seem to have Eugenie as a common ally.