Andrew Once Made a ‘Ludicrous’ Demand To Landlady That Perfectly Captures His Entitlement

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s reputation for being arrogant and a bully goes back to his school days, and it definitely did not immediately disappear after he grew up. Instead, it only worsened. Reportedly, he made a bizarre demand during his brief relationship with PR executive Emma Gibbs in the 1990s, which has resurfaced as a telling example of the royal who never learned when to leave his title at the door. 

According to one columnist, the disgraced royal once made a ‘ludicrous’ demand to his then-girlfriend’s landlady, insisting she curtsy to him every time he visited her Chelsea home. The episode, recounted by Daily Mail columnist Richard Eden, peels back another layer of Mountbatten Windsor’s pompousness that defined him long before his final fall from grace.

It was the mid-1990s, and Mountbatten Windsor’s marriage to Sarah Ferguson had ended. Around that time, he was introduced to Gibbs by none other than Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious associate. The pair reportedly shared a casual romance, with Gibbs, affectionately called ‘Gibbsy,’ renting a room in a luxury Chelsea property owned by a 'glamorous continental woman.'

That arrangement, however, quickly turned awkward, as Mountbatten Windsor did not hesitate before adding royal protocol to the mix. As Eden reported, the landlady was "extremely irritated" to learn she was expected to curtsy whenever he arrived. “She was very narked off about the fact that she was being told to curtsy in her own home,” a source told Eden, adding, “Gibbsy was her lodger. It was absolutely ludicrous, frankly. It really shows that he thought he was above the law.”

The bizarre demand says a lot about Mountbatten Windsor's obsession with formality, even in situations that didn’t call for it. Former staffers have long described him as a man who viewed royal etiquette not as custom, but as command.

And according to royal insiders, not much has changed. Despite being stripped of his military titles and HRH status by his brother, King Charles, Andrew reportedly continues to insist on being treated like a senior royal within the walls of Royal Lodge, his Windsor residence, where he currently resides. Not for long, though.

Royal commentator Rob Shuter quoted a household source saying, “Nothing has changed inside Royal Lodge — the butler still says ‘Your Royal Highness,’ and the staff still bow. Andrew’s made it clear that palace rules don’t apply inside his walls.” The same insider added, “He insists it’s his birthright — not something the King can erase.” In Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, royal historian Andrew Lownie also traced Mountbatten Windsor's arrogance back to his school days at Gordonstoun, the famously strict Scottish boarding school also attended by King Charles.

While King Charles once likened the school to “Colditz in kilts,” Mountbatten Windsor reportedly thrived there, and for all the wrong reasons. “He was a very slimy so-and-so, arrogant, pleased with himself, a bully,” one former classmate recalled. Another described him as “so full of himself” and prone to reminding others, “You do know who I am?”