Here is a testimony which is not likely to arrange the image already well tarnished by prince Andrew… Quoted by the DailyMail and The Sun on January 20 and 21, 2022, a former Buckingham servant, a certain Charlotte Brigss, did not mince words when reminiscing about her years in the service of the Duke of York. Despite a confidentiality agreement signed more than 26 years ago, Charlotte Briggs has decided to come out of silence in light of the trial for sexual assault charges which threatens the son of Queen Elizabeth in the United States.
It was when she saw a recent television report devoted to Prince Andrew that she decided to talk about her experience in his service. Arrived at Buckingham Palace in 1996, at the age of 21, Charlotte Briggs remembers having received after six months the job of which “nobody wanted“: that of servant for Prince Andrew. At that time, the Duke of York was 36 years old and had just returned to Buckingham after his divorce from Sarah Ferguson, the mother of his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. “No one wanted the job because of his reputation with his temper tantrums and swearing. This did not put me off (…), I wanted to take up the challenge of taking care of the royal family.”
The former servant then evokes the arrogant attitude of his boss, who behaved like a “spoiled child“and could fly into a rage over poorly positioned curtains.”He’s a horrible, wicked man“, she declares many years later. “This man fought for his country in the Falklands but couldn’t get up to close his own curtains. It was completely ridiculous but it said a lot about him.” Among her daily tasks, she had to take care of her boss’s surprising collection of teddy bears: 72 stuffed animals unearthed by the prince during his travels to the four corners of the world. Special mission for which she even received a day of “training” to arrange them as he wished.
Maybe if I hadn’t worked for him…
According to this former employee, the Queen’s son behaved as if he was “above everyone“unlike her brothers Charles and Edward, whom she found”marvellous“. Charlotte Briggs finally left her position shortly after the death of Lady Diana in 1997, chilled by her experience with Prince Andrew…”Maybe if I hadn’t worked for him, I would have stayed longer working for the royal family. If I had worked for someone else, like Charles or Edward, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more.”
There is no doubt that this testimony will not help Prince Andrew in his legal tussle against the American Virginia Giuffre, who accuses him of sexual assault when she was a teenager, under the influence of the ex-financier Jeffrey Epstein, in the early 2000s. Accusations he firmly denies since the start of this affair. Threatened with a civil lawsuit, which could truly undermine the British monarchy, the 61-year-old Briton continues to keep a low profile and limits his appearances to his horse riding outings in Windsor Park, where he lives at Royal Lodge with his ex- Fergie wife. Already, pushing him ever further into the shadow of the Crown, his mother the queen has withdrawn his military titles and royal patronage…