LONDON – The fallen royal, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, once Prince Andrew, Duke of York, has been accused of behaviour that would shame the boldest red-top. Andrew allegedly summoned 40 prostitutes to his luxury suite over four days during a taxpayer-funded visit to Thailand in 2006.
The claim, which detonates at the heart of an already bruised monarchy, comes from his unauthorized biographer, Andrew Lownie, in a new podcast that has left the Palace on edge.
Set the scene. Andrew attends King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s 60th anniversary celebrations as the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. Rather than attending embassy functions, he checks into a high-end hotel, paid for by the public purse. “Andrew had 40 prostitutes brought in the space of four days,” Lownie says on the Daily Mail’s Deep Dive: The Fall of the House of York podcast.
He cites multiple sources, including, he says, a member of the Thai royal family. “This was all enabled by diplomats and others.” A trip meant to strengthen trade links allegedly turned into a binge of excess, with the former prince “chasing lots and lots of women”.
Lownie’s upcoming book, entitled The Rise and Fall of the House of York, promises a stark assessment of Andrew’s record. He argues the Thailand episode was part of a wider pattern during Andrew’s time as trade envoy from 2001 to 2011, when he allegedly used his post to enrich himself and indulge private pleasures.
Embassy reports and notes from police protection officers, Lownie claims, reached Queen Elizabeth II. He alleges she knew much more than was ever admitted, and that a “conspiracy of silence” protected the institution. Andrew denies wrongdoing. Public trust, however, is cracked and brittle.
From Palace Golden Boy to Public Disgrace
In the 1980s, he was “Randy Andy”, the daring Navy pilot who married Sarah Ferguson in a carriage-and-tiara affair in 1986. The papers could not get enough of him. He was the Playboy prince and Falklands flyer, then father to Beatrice and Eugenie.
The fairy tale faltered. The marriage fell apart amid talk of infidelity, Fergie ended up selling stories, and Andrew drifted into a blur of golf trips and dubious contacts.
The Epstein scandal overshadowed everything that came before. Andrew’s ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, and to Ghislaine Maxwell, later jailed for grooming and trafficking, exploded in 2019 after Virginia Giuffre alleged she was forced to have sex with him at 17.
His BBC Newsnight interview made matters worse. Awkward denials, talk of a Pizza Express alibi, and that line about not being able to sweat due to a Falklands injury became instant shorthand for royal misjudgement. The consequences arrived fast.
He lost military titles and patronages and stopped using HRH in any official capacity. With security costs at Royal Lodge, Windsor, reported at around £3 million per year, public anger climbed.
By Thursday, the curtain came down. King Charles III, in a clipped palace statement, began the process of removing Andrew’s remaining styles, titles, and honours. “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew,” it read.
Pressure had been building due to Epstein’s posthumous memoir and fresh claims by Giuffre. Andrew was told to leave Royal Lodge. As Mr Mountbatten-Windsor he slips out of sight, eighth in line behind the Wales and Sussex children, as aides eye cheaper options for prime royal estates.
What Remains After Andrew’s Fall?
Andrew is 65 and increasingly alone. Lownie suggests the story is not over. He hints that a full police inquiry into Andrew’s trade envoy years could still happen, with expense claims, schedules, and witness accounts under the microscope.
Beatrice and Eugenie are carving out their own lives. Beatrice lives quietly with her young family, while Eugenie works in communications. Their father retreats. No polo ponies, no state dinners, and no public role. Rumour points to a low-key life abroad, maybe in Switzerland or the United States, far from Windsor’s draughty grandeur.
The immediate damage falls on the Crown. As Charles III trims the working roster and focuses on clean priorities, Andrew lingers like a stubborn stain. People ask why the Queen protected him, and why diplomats played along. Calls grow for a full audit of his 2001 to 2011 travel and expenses, with MPs demanding answers on public money spent on luxury hotels and private indulgence.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, once raised to rule, now fades at the edge of the stage. The alleged Thai episode, dragged into the light by a biographer, points to a harsher lesson. Institutions, even royal ones, can fracture under the weight of appetite. As the Thames darkens at dusk, the question is whether this is the end, or only a pause before the next act in the House of York’s ongoing saga.
