'She knew he was a liability': Truth behind late Queen's feelings about Andrew and why he wasn't her favourite

For years, there's been a long-held belief Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince, was Queen Elizabeth II's favourite child.

The late monarch's unconditional love for her son later led to accusations she had turned a blind eye to his indiscretions, ignoring public demands to take action – something King Charles later did three years after their mother's death.

"This idea that he was her favourite child is one of those myths that has become fact," royal author Victoria Arbiter tells nine.com.au.

"I think she was more concerned about him ... he was also a bit of a loose cannon in terms of his reliability. He would just go off and do his own thing.

"She was aware of the headlines, the 'Randy Andy', the 'Air Miles Andy', and she knew he was a little bit of a liability."

But Andrew also misled his mother as he did the public.

"So much of the information regarding him and surrounding him has come out after her death," Arbiter says.

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"As much as he was lying to us, I suspect he was lying to everyone behind the scenes too."

Andrew's disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019 would not have happened "if he had been upfront with her".

"If he had said, 'I'm going to go on television and defend myself against all of these accusations about my relationship with Jeffrey Epstein', she would have shut that down because of the damage that would have been done."

Elizabeth II did take action after Andrew's tell-all, filmed inside Buckingham Palace, which was seen by many as a PR disaster.

One day later, Andrew stepped back from public duties and a few months later, he lost the right to be known as His Royal Highness.

Arbiter says such moves were "fitting punishment for what he was perceived to have done in that moment".

"Anything more extreme would have been a bit harsh because, at that stage, Andrew hadn't been investigated for, charged, or indeed convicted of a crime."

Andrew was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office and released after 11 hours of questioning.

"I think her hands were tied based on the information she had at that moment in time," Arbiter says.

She adds, "You do have to be able to recognise that they're human beings and that they are going to make mistakes and that they need to be held to account as well."

Along with Andrew being the Queen's so-called favourite, another well-told story that has since been taken as fact was Elizabeth II's role in her sister's doomed relationship.

An early season of the television series The Crown fabricated a plot around the myth.

The monarch was blamed for preventing Princess Margaret from marrying her true love, Group Captain Peter Townsend – a divorcee who was 16 years her senior and a father of two sons.

Under the 1772 Royal Marriages Act, Margaret, who was under 25, needed her sister's permission to marry.

Townsend was swiftly sent to Belgium for two years in the hopes the relationship would fade.

"There's been this story forever that the queen was so monstrous around Princess Margaret's love of Peter Townsend," Arbiter says.

"This was the thing about the Queen, she never made a knee-jerk reaction. It was always about doing everything methodically, looking at the big picture and trying to figure out what to do."

Documents released decades later by National Archives revealed the Queen had tried to work out a way for her sister to marry Townsend, consulting with the prime minister at the time who was a divorcee himself.

Margaret eventually chose not to accept Townsend's marriage proposal, not wanting to give up her place in the order of succession – which was a requirement if the union had proceeded.

"Ultimately, Margaret came to her own decision and she stepped away from that relationship," Arbiter says.

It is the ultimate example of the late monarch's famous mantra: never complain, never explain.

Arbiter is attempting to clear up fact from fiction in her new book Queen Elizabeth II: An Icon of Modern Monarchy which charts the queen's historic 70-year-reign.

It has been published to coincide with the centenary of Elizabeth II's birth

"There are so many myths – you repeat them often enough and they become fact. And so this was an opportunity to correct some of the narrative surrounding her."

This week another, but much more modern, royal love story was making headlines.

The Prince and Princess of Wales celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, beginning what many are calling a new chapter for the Wales family.

Since the royal wedding at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, the couple has come through a tough few years that included Kate's cancer diagnosis and recovery, King Charles' cancer diagnosis, the death of William's grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, and the departure of two key family members, Prince Harry and the former prince Andrew.

Prince William and Catherine shared a new photo to mark the anniversary, along with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louislaying together on the grass in the sunshine.

The photo was taken during the family's Easter holiday in Cornwall earlier this month.

Family is central to everything Prince William and Catherine do and it is their children who have helped the couple stay focused through some of their most challenging times.

Arbiter believes Prince William and Catherine are following the example set by the late Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, not only when it comes to projecting an image of stability but when it comes to how they handle their public life.

The Queen and Prince Philip's 73-year marriage was the longest in British royal history.

"William and Catherine very much are the future and they have very smartly adopted the late queen and the late Prince Philip's style in terms of how they conduct their engagements", Arbiter says.

"They follow that model to a T."

Prince William is slowly making some changes under the reign of his father that were not allowed during the days of Elizabeth II such as letting cameras into investitures.

The Prince of Wales has also been more open than ever about his personal life, telling comedian Eugene Levy that "2024 was the hardest year I ever had" while sharing a beer after filming a travel documentary inside Windsor Castle.

William had arrived for his meeting with the Canadian actor in the grounds of the castle on an electric scooter.

Fiercely private when it comes to their children, William and Catherine occasionally share family videos and photos showing them on holidays or at their country home in Norfolk to mark important milestones, such as their wedding anniversary.

"We've certainly we've learned more about William during the course of his adult royal working life simply because he wasn't needing to remain quite as tightly lipped as the late queen, but he's still very guarded in terms of what he's prepared to share versus what he's not," Arbiter says.

"He is equally devoted to duty, but I think what we've seen with his family – and this is partly because of a change in expectations – is there is a very clear distinction between what is acceptable in terms of duty and what is not acceptable in terms of his private life.

"And I think [he and Catherine] are going to really emulate the queen and Prince Philip when it's their turn [on the throne]."

Arbiter says the youthful energy of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and their children, will do wonders to keep the monarchy's popularity alive when that time comes.

"In this ageist society, that little bit of youth will be seen as exciting again.

"And indeed, when they come to Australia, and certainly I know there's a hope they're going to come to Australia, they'll be given a very enthusiastic welcome."

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