A former royal butler has offered a candid assessment of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Grant Harrold served as a butler to Charles III from 2004 to 2011, back when Charles was the Prince of Wales. During that period, he also carried out duties for Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Catherine, and Prince Harry.
In 2025, Harrold released a memoir about his years in royal service, The Royal Butler: My remarkable life of royal service. He now works as an etiquette coach and professional butler trainer, and is known online as “The Royal Butler”.
More recently, Harrold has spoken about his personal impression of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who lost his “prince” title after his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein came to light.
Harrold said he did not interact with Andrew often, but described the impression he got while speaking to LADBible Stories.
“You got the feeling he thought he was better than everyone, just his mannerisms and the way he was.”
He went on to say that he never felt the same atmosphere around other royals he worked near.
“And what was weird for me was no other member of the family did you get that vibe from, not from the Queen, not from Prince Phillip, not from his brother Charles, not from Anne, none of them.
“But with him he had this, I can’t even explain it, I just didn’t want to be in his presence. Luckily I didn’t have to do much for him.”
Harrold added that, from what he heard inside the household, his view wasn’t unusual.
“Also, from colleagues in the Royal Household, none of them ever have a nice thing to say about him.”
“Put it this way, he wasn’t one of the most popular royals.”
He also shared his own belief about the relationship between King Charles III and his brother, suggesting the pair were never particularly close.
“This is my personal view, I don’t ever remember them being that close, I really don’t,” said Harrold.
Harrold isn’t the only former palace staff member to give an unflattering account of Andrew. The duke was arrested on his birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, making him the first senior royal arrested since Charles I.
After being taken into custody, he was held for several hours and later released while inquiries continued.
In a separate account, former royal protection officer Paul Page spoke to 60 Minutes Australia in 2022 about Andrew’s reputation among security staff. Page said the official callsign used for Andrew was “Purple 41”, but claimed officers also used a far cruder nickname.
“He did have a nickname, but it’s a bit rude to tell you,” the officer told the host, warning: “You wouldn’t be able to air it.”
Page then stated:
“Andrew was known as the c***. Plain and simple, because unfortunately, he upset everyone he came across.
“He was the most unpopular member of the royal family while I was there. He was just rude and arrogant, and his sense of self-entitlement was breathtaking.”