EXCLUSIVE: Andrew Windsor's 'Exploitation' of Queen Elizabeth Laid Bare — 'He's a Snake Who Used One Weekly Tactic to Manipulate His Mom'
Andrew Windsor may have had his mother wrapped around his finger.
April 30 2026, Published 10:00 a.m. ET
Shamed former Prince Andrew is facing renewed scrutiny over claims he exploited his close relationship with his mother Queen Elizabeth by using private moments to sidestep royal protocol – with insiders alleging the pattern reflected a calculated effort to manipulate access and authority at the highest level.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the allegations center on Andrew, now 66, during the later years of Elizabeth's reign, when the late monarch – who died in 2022 aged 96 – maintained a tightly controlled schedule overseen by senior aides often referred to as the "men in grey suits."
Former Prince Andrew developed a specific tactic to bypass senior royal officials, according to author Robert Hardman.
According to royal biographer Robert Hardman, Andrew developed a method of bypassing those gatekeepers by approaching the Queen directly during informal Sunday tea gatherings at Windsor, where officials were typically absent.
Hardman said: "He did have a tactic which was, whenever he was told he couldn't do something or something was impossible, his favorite way of countermanding it would be to go round and have tea with Mummy on a Sunday afternoon, because there were no officials around."
'Andrew Was a Snake'
The disgraced prince approached Queen Elizabeth directly during informal Sunday tea gatherings.
A source familiar with palace dynamics said the approach amounted to a deliberate circumvention of established processes.
"What's being described is not just opportunism on Andrew's part, but a consistent pattern of sneaky behavior – identifying moments when oversight was minimal and using personal proximity to secure outcomes that might otherwise have been blocked," an insider claimed.
"It speaks to a dynamic where emotional closeness could be leveraged to override institutional checks."
The insider added: "In that sense, it has all the hallmarks of a system being quietly exploited from within. Essentially, it adds to the feeling that Andrew was a snake who exploited the peace of the Queen's peaceful Sunday to try and manipulate her into granting him whatever he wanted."
Sunday Tea Meetings Key To Strategy
Andrew Windsor is said to have countermanded official decisions by speaking privately with his mother.
Hardman elaborated the absence of advisers during the private meetings was key to Andrew's strategy.
He said: "It was when officials were around that they would usually say, 'Well, I'm sorry, Sir, we can't do this, we can't do that.'"
The author continued by outlining how those conversations would unfold.
The royal expert said: "So on a Sunday at tea, Andrew would say, 'Oh Mummy, you wouldn't believe what they've told me I can't do. It's ridiculous. I'm sure you don't mind me doing this. It's going to be a good idea. You must agree.'
"And she'd eventually say, 'Alright, yes.' And then on Monday morning, he'd say, 'No, it's quite all right. I've got the Queen's permission. It's going to happen. I'm going to do XYZ.'"
The Queen's 'Favorite Child'
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Senior aides managed the Queen's tightly controlled schedule during her later years.
Another source said the claims reinforce long-held perceptions about Andrew's position within the royal family.
They added: "Andrew was widely seen as the Queen's favorite child, and with that came a level of access others didn't have. The concern is that this access wasn't always handled with the same discipline expected of someone in his role, which created friction behind the scenes."
Hardman also reflected on Elizabeth's relationship with her other children, including Princess Anne, now 75.
He said the Queen viewed Anne as a workaholic, but worried about Andrew's temperament and judgment.
Hardman added, "That was a different sort of worry. But with Andrew, she could see that the others were self-starters. They were confident that they would get on with life. But Andrew was headstrong, sheepish; he is often described as the start of her second family, because he came along 10 years after Anne, and he was a bouncy, lively child, and she adored him, obviously."
Hardman noted the concerns persisted into adulthood, particularly during Andrew's naval career.
"But by the time (Andrew) was a young adult, it was quite clear that he was quite impressionable," he said. "He was a bit boorish. He could say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing. They tried to keep him in the Royal Navy because the one thing he was good at was flying helicopters. But by 2001, the Navy said, 'Look, there's nothing we can do.'"
Andrew stepped back from royal duties in 2019 following his catastrophic Newsnight interview amid huge scrutiny over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, later losing his remaining royal titles in 2025 under his older brother King Charles III.
