The late Queen Elizabeth II’s disgraced second son, Prince Andrew, plotted to stop his older brother Charles from becoming king, a bombshell new biography serialized in The Daily Telegraph revealed.
The Duke of York, who is no longer a working royal because of fall-out from his relationship with convicted pedophile, the late Jeffrey Epstein, had an uneasy relationship with his brother, now King Charles III, and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, according to the abridged extract from ‘Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: From Outcast to Queen Consort’, by Angela Levin.
Prince Andrew, who earlier this year settled a civil sexual assault case brought against him in the US by his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, allegedly “lobbied hard” to push Charles aside so that he could become Regent to a teenage William, Prince of Wales.
Before the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales, was born, Queen Elizabeth II’s two sons were first and second in line to the throne. Apparently, Charles and Andrew never really got on, with Camilla adding to the friction, according to a royal insider cited in the book.
Prince Andrew wanted to "rule the country in some way” and reportedly tried to get his mother on board with his idea.
"When Diana was alive, through her friendship with Andrew’s wife Sarah, [Duchess of York] she plotted with Andrew to try to push Prince Charles aside so Prince Andrew could become Regent to Prince William, who was then a teenager,” the book reveals.
According to the biography, to be published on 29 September, those were “dark and strange times, where paranoia became reality”.
“Andrew lobbied very hard with the hope that Charles would not become king when his mother died, and that William would wear the crown. His behaviour was very, very negative and extremely unpleasant to Queen [Elizabeth], who disagreed. I was told it was one of the rare occasions he didn’t get his way,” a royal insider is cited as telling the author.
Prince Andrew, for whom Queen Elizabeth II allegedly had a soft spot, was one of those whose advice the late monarch had sought regarding Charles marrying Camilla. Diana and Charles had separated in 1992, reaching a final agreement in August 1996, whereas Camilla’s divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles went through in 1995.
Prince Andrew, however, tried to persuade the Queen to block Charles marrying by being "quite poisonous, mean, unhelpful and very nasty about Camilla," states the book.
“It's doubtful, as a result, as to whether Prince Andrew has ever been forgiven due to his continued hostility towards Camilla,” sums up the author.
After King Charles III ascended the throne in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September, Prince William became first in line to the throne.
He is followed by his three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Prince Harry, albeit no longer a working member of the Royal Family, is fifth in line to the throne.