William ‘challenged Charles directly’ about Andrew

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Prince William realized his uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was a threat to the future of Britain’s royal family long before his father did, a new book has revealed. And when King Charles III appeared to soften toward the former Duke of York, the Prince of Wales didn’t stay quiet.

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In the new biography William and Catherine: The Monarchy’s New Era: The Inside Story, author Russell Myers reveals that tensions between Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his nephew Prince William simmered for years. Long before the former Duke of York faced renewed scrutiny over claims that he assaulted Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, which he’s denied, “William always thought his uncle was a bit of an ignoramus,” a palace source told Myers, as reported by RadarOnline.com. “He would question, ‘What does he actually do?’ But it was more than that,” the source added. “He’d seen how Andrew behaved in front of staff, ordering people about, the aggressive or dismissive manner; they’d never seen eye to eye.”

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was forced to step back as a working senior royal in 2019 after giving a disastrous interview to the BBC’s Newsnight about his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Queen Elizabeth II also stripped him of his honorary military affiliations and royal patronages. But after the queen’s death in 2022, King Charles III gradually allowed his younger brother back into family life, even inviting the former Duke of York and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson to join other members of The Firm for the family’s annual Christmas walk to church on the monarch’s Sandringham estate in 2023. According to author Russell Myers’ new book, their attendance was “a clear sign of [Charles’] wish for further harmony in his family.”

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Prince William, however, was not on board. “William fundamentally disagreed with, to such a degree that he challenged [King] Charles directly,” author Russell Myers — who’s also the royal editor at Britain’s Daily Mirror — reveals in his new book. A source with knowledge of the conversation told Myers that the Prince of Wales was “very much put in his place” by his father over his demands that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor remain a royal outsider. Myers writes that while William “did not agree with the view that Andrew’s exile should be limited,” he respected the king’s role as head of the family and “did not provoke his father further.”

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Prince William‘s feelings were seemingly dismissed again in April 2025, when King Charles III invited Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson to the royal family’s Easter service at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, England, where they mingled alongside senior working royals. The Prince of Wales, wife Kate Middleton and their children skipped the event, instead spending the holiday privately at their country estate, Anmer Hall. Months later — at the September 2025 funeral mass for the Duchess of Kent — the king and his heir were both publicly seen with the former Duke of York. But as a jovial Mountbatten-Windsor began speaking to his nephew, the Prince of Wales appeared to barely acknowledge him. The U.K. media widely described their exchange as “frosty” and tense.

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By late 2025, events seemed to validate Prince William‘s reportedly long-held concerns. In October 2025, King Charles III stripped Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of his royal titles and honors after Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir was published, drawing fresh attention to her claims against the former Duke of York. In January 2026, the king evicted his brother from his Crown Estate home, Royal Lodge. And in February 2026, Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office weeks after the U.S. Justice Department released emails suggesting he had passed along sensitive government documents to Jeffrey Epstein while serving as U.K.’s trade envoy.