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Prince Andrew once banished a staffer because he “couldn’t bear” to look at a mole in his face, according to claims from an upcoming book.
The Duke of York also arranged to remove a member of his staff because he was wearing a nylon tie, the book, seen by The Independent, said.
Royal expert Tom Quinn’s book Yes Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants, due to be published on 18 February, details accounts from royal servants over the years.
Several former staffers recounted that Andrew had insisted on removing the member of staff due to disliking a mole on the man’s face, as the book details how royal servants said that he was “bossy” and tended to “act like a classic school bully”.
One of his servant’s recalled: “Andrew always behaved as if he was frustrated about not being the first-born and therefore destined to become king. This frustration made him a bit of a bully in private, I think.
“If he liked a member of his staff, he could be very loyal and supportive, but he couldn’t resist being imperious and bossy and bad-tempered if anything went wrong or wasn’t done exactly to his liking.”
Buckingham Palace did not comment on the allegations made about Prince Andrew in the book.
This isn’t the first time Prince Andrew has faced accusations of bullying, after Paul Page, who worked as a Royal Protection Command between 1998 and 2004, alleged at least 12 claims of bullying were put against the Duke of York.
He alleged in 2022 that he had personally made three separate complaints to palace officials and was aware of “at least a dozen” other complaints.
He told the Sunday Mirror: “Buckingham Palace launched a bullying investigation against Meghan last year after she was accused of wrongdoing.
“If it’s a fair organisation that looks after its staff, an investigation should be started to confirm whether or not Andrew is guilty of being a bully and of intimidating staff.”
Prince Andrew has courted controversy since his close relationship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sex trafficking minor in Florida and New York, became public knowledge.
In 2019, Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre filed a lawsuit in Manhattan which alleged she was trafficked by Epstein to have sex with Andrew on three occasions when she was 17, a minor under US law.
Andrew paid Ms Giuffre a multi-million-pound out-of-court settlement, meaning both sides avoided the case going to trial, in 2022. Andrew has always vehemently denied the claims.
More recently, he faced trouble for his connections to Yang Tengbo, alleged to be working on behalf of the United Front Work Department, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party that is used to influence foreign entities.
Andrew insisted he “ceased all contact” with the businessman, who was accused of being a Chinese spy.
Yes, Ma’am: The Secret Life of Royal Servants by Tom Quinn, published by Biteback, £20.
