PRINCE Andrew demanded his water be served at room temperature – and ensured his valet carried a six-foot ironing board on foreign trips, it’s reported.
A new expose has revealed a series of excruciating anecdotes from Andrew’s term as the UK’s special representative for trade and investment.
He was handed the role, which made him responsible for promoting British business interests overseas, following his divorce from Sarah Ferguson.
But he soon became known throughout the Gulf as HBH – His Buffoon Highness, a diplomat has revealed.
After the Duke was given the job, one courtier immediately warned his private life would “willy-nilly, intrude into his public role” – and said he could be “going off with Ghislaine Maxwell to a nightclub” during his private time.
And now Simon Wilson, the former deputy head of mission in Bahrain – who previously hosted the prince – has revealed further details of the royal’s travelling entourage.
He told The Times Andrew flew with a team which included his equerries and private secretaries, as well as a valet armed with a whopping ironing board.
And the prince issued detailed directives about his life on the road – including the exact temperature of his water, Mr Wilson said.
The diplomat said Andrew was “rude and boorish” – and was known as a “buffoon” because of his “childish obsession with doing the exact opposite of what had been agreed”.
It comes as:
- Prince William today ignored questions about his embattled uncle during a visit with Kate
- It was reported last night that Ghislaine Maxwell might have been in a sexual relationship with Andrew
- Brits slammed the Duke after a new documentary on his ties to Maxwell and Epstein aired
- Meghan and Harry may not return to the UK for Prince Philip’s memorial amid a row over their security
- And the couple reportedly requested to live at Windsor Castle after their wedding – but were turned down by the Queen
It marks another day of major embarrassments for Andy after one of his worst weeks ever.
He learned a civil sex case in New York will go ahead, despite his efforts to have it thrown out – before being effectively banished from the Royal Family less than 24 hours later.
Andrew, who will be fighting the suit as a private citizen and vehemently denies any wrongdoing, reportedly fears he’ll be left destitute.
Piling insult onto injury, it was revealed he he ordered flunkies to arrange his teddies and soft toys in specific positions on his bed every night – and would “shout and scream” if it wasn’t done to his liking.
Then ITV programme Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Paedophile suggested he may have had an intimate relationship with convicted pimp Maxwell, who would visit Buckingham Palace as she pleased.
Andrew’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts have been quietly deleted amid the furore.
The Duke’s alleged failings as an envoy are well-documented.
In 2011, Sir Ivor Roberts, the former ambassador to Italy, observed: “His type of diplomacy is not mine, in the sense that it has not always led to improved relations with the people he is supposed to be schmoozing.”
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Sir Ivor, who also hosted the prince, said Andrew once greeted the well-known head of a fashion house with the words: “Never heard of you.”
And he said of his visits from the royal: “Let’s say I didn’t enjoy them much.”
In 1988, Andrew was sent to Lockerbie to meet with devastated locals after Pan Am Flight 103 was blown out of the air.
In total, 259 people – 11 of them on the ground – were killed in the disaster.
Andrew told Scots the horror had been “much worse” for the Americans and it had been “only a matter of time” before a plane crash.
And in 2005 a member of airport security at Melbourne in Australia reportedly labelled him a “pompous p***k” after he refused to comply with routine screening before boarding a flight.
But Andrew – who counted Colonel Gaddafi and a convicted Libyan gun runner in his circle of acquaintances – went on to tell Tatler criticism wasn’t fair.
“I’m a good deal more down to earth than people would expect from a member of the Royal Family,” he said in 2000.
“The ivory tower is not a syndrome from which I suffer.”
Andrew stepped back from the role in 2011 after a decade of service.
