Behind the gilded doors of royal residences, the day-to-day behaviour of Prince Andrew has long been a subject of intense scrutiny and startling revelations. A former maid has now come forward with extraordinary details about the disgraced Duke of York's deeply peculiar habits, painting a picture of a man obsessed with order and prone to fits of temper.
The Teddy Bear Regiment
Charlotte Briggs, who worked as a maid at the Palace in the mid-1990s, provided a startling glimpse into Andrew's private world. She revealed that the then-prince kept a collection of 72 cuddly toys on his bed, all of which had to be arranged with military precision.
"As soon as I got the job, I was told about the teddies, and it was drilled into me how he wanted them," Briggs told The Sun. "I even had a day's training. Everything had to be just right. It was so peculiar." The meticulous arrangement required the largest toys to be placed at the back, with the rest lined up in descending order of size towards the front.
According to Briggs, the process took her half an hour to complete, a task she described as "the most bizarre thing to be paid for." The vast majority of the teddy bears were reportedly dressed in sailor uniforms and caps, collected from around the world.
A Culture of Entitlement and Anger
Former royal protection officer Paul Page added further disturbing details in an ITV documentary, describing a laminated instruction sheet titled "DOY bed: Points for turn down & making the bed." This guide specified the exact placement of various items, including two toy hippos, a black panther, bears, and three cushions named 'Daddy', 'Ducks' and 'Prince'.
Page claimed that Andrew would "scream and shout" if servants failed to place these items exactly according to his specifications. This pattern of behaviour towards staff has been consistently reported by multiple insiders, who describe the Duke as both arrogant and entitled.
Despite being stripped of his royal titles and honours by King Charles due to his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew has reportedly maintained his demands for deference within his home at Royal Lodge. A household insider revealed to Rob Shuter's #ShuterScoop that "the butler still says Your Royal Highness, and the staff still bow." Andrew has strenuously denied all claims made against him.
Life with Fergie Among the Teddies
Royal author Ingrid Seward claimed that Andrew's then-wife, Sarah Ferguson, also slept among this extensive teddy bear collection during their marriage. The expert stated that Fergie was surrounded by "around a dozen teddy bears" on the bed they shared.
Further insights into Andrew's demanding nature emerged from Andrew Lowrie's biography, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York. The book alleges that Andrew insisted maids climb four floors of stairs simply to open his curtains each morning while he lay in bed beside them.
The biography also quotes a former equerry for the Queen Mother, who described Andrew as a "rude, ignorant sod," and details other peculiar demands, including summoning a television technician in the middle of the night to explain how a remote control worked.
As Andrew faces the prospect of leaving the 30-room Royal Lodge, these revelations provide a compelling insight into the behaviour that has increasingly alienated him from the royal family and the public alike, revealing a world of privilege, peculiarity, and profound entitlement behind the palace walls.
