Queen Elizabeth Allowed Her Staff to Discipline Prince Andrew In the Most Disgusting Way
Her children are all grown up now, but there was a time not too long ago when Queen Elizabeth was just like any other working mother trying to raise four kids while committing to a full-time job.
The queen had the benefit of full-time staff including nannies, butlers, cooks, and maids, but that didn’t make work-life balance much easier. Though she was known for leaving her kids for weeks or even months at a time, she truly loved and doted on them. Especially her apparent favorite child, Prince Andrew.
But just because he was the not-so-secret favorite, it doesn’t mean that Andrew was immune to discipline. For example, there was that one time he got reprimanded by palace staff in a way that’s shocking by today’s standards.
The queen raised her younger kids differently
Both Prince Andrew and Prince Edward were born a full decade after their older siblings Prince Charles and Princess Anne. Supposedly the queen relaxed in her older age and parented them differently. While Prince Charles had an unhappy childhood and says his mother was largely absent, that’s not what happened with Andrew and Edward at all.
But everyone except Charles seemed content in their childhoods. While it’s true that Queen Elizabeth did rely on her staff to help raise the kids without affecting her busy schedule, there’s a rumor that “Mabel’s night off” was one of her favorite days.
That’s the night when the children’s nanny took her leave and the queen stepped in to bathe her kids, read them bedtime stories, and tuck them in herself.
Prince Andrew had a mischievous streak
Like so many boys and girls growing up, Prince Andrew was known for being a bit naughty and testing the boundaries of how many rules he could break. As royal biographer Ingrid Seward recalled in her biography, My Husband and I: The Inside Story of 70 Years of the Royal Marriage, Prince Andrew once got into a heap of trouble at Windsor stables. Literally.
“The coachmen and grooms who worked there had little time for the prince, having often seen him aim kicks at dogs and taunting the helpless guardsmen,” Seward wrote in her book. “Sensing their studied indifference and trying to attract attention, the Prince started beating the ground with a large stick.”
But when everyone still ignored his antics, Prince Andrew took it one step further and began taunting the horses with his stick.
The queen wouldn’t tolerate her horses being bothered
Remember, this was a time when corporal punishment was still quite acceptable. Rather than verbally reprimanding the child, two grooms apparently picked him up and threw him into a pile of horse manure. Then they began shoveling even more disgusting horse excrement on top of the rowdy boy.
The child started threatening that he’d tell his mother, but apparently, that didn’t stop the stable staff one bit. They knew how much Queen Elizabeth loved her horses and expected she wouldn’t want them being mistreated.
While it’s unclear what Queen Elizabeth said when the story was relayed to her, most people believe the staff wasn’t reprimanded for their extreme punishment, even for her favorite child.
Hopefully, Prince Andrew refrained from messing with those horses in the future thanks to that gross lesson!
