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Prince Andrew secretly plotted with Princess Diana and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson to try to prevent Charles from becoming king and allow Prince William to ascend the throne with the Duke of York as regent, an explosive new biography claimed today.
Andrew is also said to have lobbied the queen and campaigned against the marriage between Charles and Camilla, now king and queen consort, telling his mother that she was not trustworthy.
Angela Levin’s new book on Camilla’s life, serialized in the Telegraph, claims the Duke of York was “very mean” to her and colluded with Princess Diana to prevent the Queen’s eldest son from becoming king.
According to his alleged plan, William, then a teenager, would queue up for the throne if the Queen had died with Charles pushed out and Andrew made regent until the now Prince of Wales was 18.
Citing a “senior insider,” Ms Levin writes that the Duke of York “conspired with Diana” to “push Prince Charles aside”, with the aim of Prince Andrew becoming “Prince William’s regent.”
“Andrew lobbied very hard in the hope that Charles would not become king when his mother died, and that William would wear the crown,” she said.
Ms Levin added that the prince “lobbied very hard” to prevent his older brother from ascending the throne.
Prince Andrew allegedly ‘lobbied’ the Queen to try to position herself as Prince William’s regent
The prince is also said to have opposed King Charles’s marriage to Camilla
Andrew’s alleged plot would have seen William on the throne had the Queen died – with Andrew as regent
A ‘senior insider’ at the palace is said to have told Ms Levin: ‘When Diana was alive, through her friendship with Andrew’s wife Sarah, [Duchess of York] she hatched a plan with Andrew to try and push Prince Charles aside so that Prince Andrew could become regent to Prince William, who was then a teenager.
“These were dark and strange times, when paranoia became a reality, and this was a concern.
The explosive claims are in Angela Levin’s new biography, based on Camilla’s life
‘His behavior was very, very negative and extremely unpleasant for Queen’ [Elizabeth], who disagreed. I was told it was one of the rare times he didn’t get his way.
“Nevertheless, he was apparently very angry that he couldn’t rule the country one way or another. He remained so hostile to Camilla’s rise and acceptance that it’s doubtful it will ever be forgiven.”
Buckingham Palace and representatives of the Duke of York have been approached for comment.
Ms Levin also wrote about the Duke’s hostility to Charles’s marriage to Camilla, claiming Andrew was “toxic” and “very mean” to the late Queen Elizabeth.
The insider said: “He tried to persuade the Queen to let Charles marry Camilla by being quite toxic, mean, useless and very mean about Camilla.”
These claims allegedly included that Camilla was insufficiently aristocratic and unreliable.
In 1998, when Charles turned 50, a party was held, but the Queen and Prince Philip declined in case Camilla was there.
Camilla’s close friend Lucia Santa Cruz said: “When Camilla was married to Andrew Parker Bowles, she went with him to Balmoral and joined the royal family. They got on wonderfully well with her… But when the marriage broke down and they was with Prince Charles, she was rejected and took all the blame, which was so unfair.”
The Duke of York and King Charles have reportedly had a tense relationship over the years, which has deteriorated dramatically since Prince Andrew’s ties to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein emerged.
When Buckingham Palace announced in January that the Prince would be stripped of all military titles and protections and defend his sexual abuse case against Virginia Giuffre as a private individual, it was understood that the now-King had played an important role in influencing the decision.
The Queen would always have had a soft spot for her second son, the Duke of York
A palace insider told Angela Levin Prince Andrew was “toxic” and “very mean” about Camilla (pictured after the ecclesiastical blessing of their civil wedding ceremony)
Princess Diana is said to have supported her son, Prince William, who ascended the throne before his father
At the time, palace sources said the “ruthless and swift” decision was “much discussed” within the royal family after Andrew’s failed attempt to persuade a judge to dismiss the civil lawsuit.
Prince Charles and his son William are said to have been ‘instrumental’ in the move to force him to be an active member of the royal family.
Charles is said to have spoken to his mother by phone to give his opinion on the decision.
An internal source at the palace said at the time: “It was a brutal and swift decision which will have been recommended by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge and approved by the Queen.”
Later, in February, it was reported that Charles had told his brother to stay “out of sight” at official events.
Prince Andrew has since reached a settlement with Ms Giuffre, in which he has not admitted any mistakes.
Angela Levin has previously published biographies of the royal family, including Prince Harry in 2018 and Prince William and Kate in 2015.
Her latest work, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall: From Outcast to Queen Consort, examines Camilla’s relationship with senior members of the royal family and how they have evolved over time.