Prince Andrew's Biography
Prince Andrew is the second son of The Queen and Prince Phillip.
He was educated at Heatherdown Preparatory School, Gordonstoun School (where his elder brother, Prince Charles, was educated before him) and Lakefield College in Ontario before going to the Britannia Royal Navy College in Dartmouth.
Prince Andrew was commissioned in the Royal Navy. He qualified as a helicopter pilot and served in the Falklands War in 1982. Along with his squadron, he sailed in HMS Invincible and flew on various missions.
Prince Andrew rose to the rank of Commander before he formally left the Royal Navy in July 2001.
In 1986 Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson, nicknamed Fergie, and took the titles Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh. They had two children (Beatrice and Eugenie) but, in March 1992, it was announced that The Duke and Duchess were to split up.
They were divorced in May 1996. Prince Andrew and Fergie have continued to have joint custody of their children.
In 2005, it was reported that the National Audit Office, in correspondence with a Labour MP, Ian Davidson, had revealed that Prince Andrew found trains unreliable and had spent £32,000 of public money on flights to St Andrews golf course.
Prince Andrew has a golf handicap of seven and is a member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and sits on its Amateur Status Committee.
In February 2010 it was reported that Prince Andrew struck a police officer while driving into Buckingham Palace.
In May 2010 the News of the World secretly recorded the Duchess of York selling claimed access to Prince Andrew, who categorically denied knowing about the meeting. Additionally Sarah Ferguson later said that Prince Andrew "was not aware or involved in any of the discussions that occurred".
In November 2010, the Wikileaks cables revealed that Tatiana Gfoeller, Washington's ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, reported that Prince Andrew spoke "cockily" at a brunch in 2008 with British and Canadian business people, and made an attack on British anti-corruption investigators, journalists and the French.
In July 2011, Prince Andrew stood down as the UK's trade envoy.
In 2019, Prince Andrew was in the news due to his connection to the disgraced Jeffrey Epstein who had committed suicide in prison.
Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying: "The Duke of York has been appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged crimes."
On 16 November 2019, the BBC broadcast an interview with him conducted by Emily Maitlis about his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
In the immediate aftermath of interview, Prince Andrew announced that he was stepping back from royal duties.
In March 2022, The Duke of York agreed to pay a financial settlement to Virginia Giuffre thus ending a civil case she brought against him in the US.
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