It’s been nearly two weeks since Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday, and although it’s unclear what the future holds for the former Duke of York, one thing that’s certain is his family is under greater scrutiny than ever before. In a new interview with People, multiple royal experts have weighed in on the downfall of the York family along with the role Queen Elizabeth played in shielding Andrew from responsibility.
Growing up as the late Queen’s favored son and being given special treatment in the military did little to give Andrew any humility or sense of self-awareness. “He has been pampered all the way through his life, in this bubble,” Entitled author Andrew Lownie told the publication. “Status is everything to him—it’s his only sense of identity.”
Despite his arrest and the alleged evidence against him in the Epstein files, Lownie says that Andrew “thinks he’s anointed—that it’s deeply unfair people have turned on him.”
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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is seen returning to the Sandringham estate after his February 19 arrest.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Queen Elizabeth is seen riding in a carriage with ex-Prince Andrew at Royal Ascot.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The ex-duke was arrested on February 19 after emails reportedly revealed Andrew—who formerly worked as a U.K. trade envoy—shared confidential documents with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Although Andrew has long been associated with the convicted pedophile and was accused of sexual assault by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, Queen Elizabeth either didn’t believe his wrongdoings—or chose to ignore them.
“She saw no gap between the monarchy and shielding her son,” author Catherine Mayer told People. “One thing was her duty as monarch, and one was her duty as a mother—and she felt that those things were fully aligned.”
Although Andrew was forced to step down as a senior working royal after his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019, Queen Elizabeth is said to have been reluctant to formally remove his titles—a move King Charles made in October 2025.
“They thought they’d be able to operate like this under the radar,” Lownie says of Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. “They’re clearly up to their necks in exploiting their royal status.”