A source with ties to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has claimed the disgraced royal “really has brought it on himself”, as he continues to live under the shadow of his downfall following his association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The former Duke of York has always denied any wrongdoing. A royal insider who met Andrew through her former husband during the 1982 Falklands War, said the duke was already out of touch with everyday life decades before his dramatic fall from grace.

“I met him through my former husband, who served in the Navy alongside Andrew during the Falklands. They became friends, and we visited his home, Sunninghill Park, a few times," they exclusively told Express.co.uk. According to the source, Andrew’s children were close in age to her own, and the families spent time together during those visits. “He had children the same age as ours, and they got on really well. Eugenie and Beatrice were both lovely girls,” they recalled.

Although Andrew was not with Sarah Ferguson at the time, the insider suggested he still cared deeply for her. “He was not with Sarah then, but he had photos of her everywhere around the home. He was clearly very fond of her,” they said, adding that even then, Andrew had a reputation. “He was a known womaniser even back then.”

While Andrew and her husband got on well, the source admitted her own impression of the former Duke of York was far less favourable. “Although he got on well with my then husband, I found him to be rather aloof and arrogant,” she and claimed Andrew had little grasp of life outside royal privilege.

In a shock move, that left them mortified, the source added, “He did not have much experience of the real world, and did not even know how to use a card machine, which I thought was embarrassing for a man of his age."

The former prince moved out of his home in Windsor this week, a symbolic moment in his extended fall from grace after more documents related to Jeffrey Epstein contained fresh revelations about his long friendship with Andrew.

Last October, the royal, was stripped of his titles by his brother, King Charles III, because of disclosures showing the extent of his association with Epstein.

Buckingham Palace also announced at the time that he would move out of his home, Royal Lodge in Windsor, in early 2026. His departure from the residence on Monday came earlier than expected, according to the BBC, apparently sped up by the release of more documents last week.