Andrew 'lobbied the Queen to try and stop Charles from becoming King', new book claims

22 September 2022, 12:59 | Updated: 22 September 2022, 13:08

Prince Andrew "lobbied hard" to stop Charles from becoming king, a bombshell new book claims.

The new book claims Andrew secretly plotted with Princess Diana and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson to stop Charles becoming King and instead let then-teenager William take the throne with the Duke of York as Regent.

Angela Levin's new book on the life of Camilla, serialised in the Telegraph, claims that the Duke of York was "very nasty" to her and conspired with Princess Diana to prevent the Queen's eldest son from becoming King.

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 plotted with Andrew to try to push Prince Charles aside so Prince Andrew could become Regent to Prince William, who was then a teenager.

"They were dark and strange times, where paranoia became reality, and this was a worry.

"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.

"Nonetheless, he was apparently very angry that he couldn't rule the country in some way. He remained so hostile to Camilla's emergence and acceptance that it's doubtful it has ever been forgiven."

Andrew, 62, is also alleged to have and campaigned against the marriage between Charles and Camilla, now King and Queen Consort, telling his mother that she was not trustworthy.

Levin’s ‘senior insider’ said that the Duke of York was “poisonous” and “very nasty” about Camilla when speaking to the Queen. She writes that Prince Andrew believed Camilla untrustworthy and insufficiently aristocratic.

Earlier this year, the Queen announced that it was her “sincere wish” that the Duchess of Cornwall become known as Queen Consort when Charles came to the throne.

This was a major U-turn with Camilla set to assume the lesser title of Princess Consort after she married the then Prince Charles in 2005. The Queen made her decision in recognition of Camilla’s hard work and the happiness she brings to her son, according to royal sources.

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Andrew has received significant public attention during the Queen’s state funeral after being permitted to wear his military uniform during the Vigil of the Princes as the Queen lied in state at Westminster Hall last week. King Charles allowed his younger brother to wear his military uniform despite no longer being a working royal.

For the state funeral of the Queen however, and the procession to and from Westminster Abbey, the Duke of York was forced to wear a civilian mourning suite.

The Queen stripped Prince Andrew of all his honorary military riles after stepping back as a working royal. This included his HRH title and Colonel of the Grenadier Guards.

Earlier this year, the Duke of York paid millions to Ms Virginia Guiffre to settle a civil sexual assault case. Despite the two appearing in a photograph together, the Duke of York claims to never have met Ms Guiffre.