Queen Elizabeth Protected Andrew And 'Enabled' His Behavior in a 'Terrible Way': Expert

Their closeness, once seen as harmless, is now viewed as a key factor in Andrew’s long slide into disgrace.

For most of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s scandals, the narrative has focused squarely on him, the bad judgment, the disastrous interviews, the catastrophic friendships. But royal commentator Tina Brown flipped that lens, suggesting that the real story sits higher up the royal chain. She argued that Mountbatten Windsor’s most destructive traits weren’t simply personal failings but the product of a system that indulged him from birth; the real enabler, she says, was the late Queen Elizabeth.

As the first child born to a reigning monarch since 1857, Mountbatten Windsor grew up in a world where hierarchy insulated him, and consequences were non-existent. By adulthood, that insulation had hardened into entitlement. “He was her favorite… She protected him, and Mummy was his only client, essentially,” Brown told The New York Times podcast The Interview, adding that the Queen’s loyalty ended up having a reverse effect. “She was the one who protected him so, unfortunately, it made him worse.”

And as a result, Mountbatten Windsor has spent years denying allegations of accuser Virginia Giuffre, claims tied to his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this month, King Charles stripped him of his remaining royal privileges and removed him from Royal Lodge. The 65-year-old has now been sent to the Sandringham Estate, with his new home to be privately funded by the King.

Brown, who didn’t shy away from placing responsibility at the very top, suggested that Mountbatten Windsor’s fall from grace, if it ever existed, was enabled over decades. “The Queen was there for 70 years, right? The hagiography around the Queen is intense, you know? I mean, you’re not allowed to ever criticize the Queen,” she said.

Royal biographer Andrew Lownie had expressed a similar view. In his book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, he alleges that the late Queen was aware of the questionable financial dealings surrounding her son, even saying, “She allowed it to happen.” As per The Times, he remarked, “This is what shocked me, the cover-up from the Palace. They knew exactly what was going on. People are not going to like it, but the Queen was colluding in this. I originally thought she just put her head in the sand. But I increasingly have come to the view that she knew exactly what was going on and allowed it to happen.”

In his book, he asked where the millions for refurbishing and running Royal Lodge came from. Who covered the multimillion-pound settlement to Virginia Giuffre? And what about the $9,80,000 from Turkish millionaire Nebahat Isbilen, said to be a gift for Princess Beatrice’s wedding, which ended up in Andrew’s account before being repaid?

That legacy has now landed on King Charles, who continues to grapple with the long shadow cast by his brother’s ties to Epstein. Royal insider Roya Nikkah, writing for The Sunday Times, had also argued that the strain isn’t entirely of Charles’s making. In her view, 'the Andrew issue' didn’t emerge overnight but stems from decisions made by the late Queen. Her affection for her son, Nikkah says, often softened her judgment, creating blind spots that now fall squarely on the new monarch’s shoulders.