Prince Andrew: Yorkshire maid reveals what it was like to work for disgraced Duke of York

A maid from Yorkshire has spoken out about what life was like working for Prince Andrew - saying he was 'demanding and entitled'.
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Charlotte Briggs, who is from Halifax, said he would regularly unleash foul-mouthed rants at his staff.

She recalls one moment when the disgraced royal lost his temper due to a small gap in the curtains - yelling "can't you doing anything right?"

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Charlotte, who is 47, said she was left in tears and would hide away to avoid the Duke of York ,who has been stripped of his titles and forced to give up his HRH style.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of YorkPrince Andrew, the Duke of York
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York

She told The Sun: “This man fought for his country in the Falklands but couldn’t stand up to close his own curtains. It was utterly ridiculous but spoke volumes about him.

“Andrew definitely put a downer on things. He thinks he’s above everyone.”

Charlotte started working at Buckingham Palace at the age of 21 after moving from Yorkshire in 1996, and said no one wanted the job of working for Prince Andrew when it came up, but his "tantrums and sweary outbursts" didn't put her off.

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She has broken her silence on her work at the Palace following the Prince being stripped of his titles amid a sex assault lawsuit in America.

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And she said other royals, such as Princes Charles and Edward, were wonderful.

In contrast, Charlotte said other royals, including Princes Charles and Edward, were “wonderful”.

She said: “I’d been there six months when the job to become Andrew’s maid came up. He’d moved back to the Palace after his divorce from Fergie.

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“Nobody wanted the job because of his reputation for tantrums and sweary outbursts. I’d moved down from Yorkshire to Buckingham Palace and wanted to take on the challenge, to look after the royals."

She told the national newspaper that there were two maids who worked on a rota of 6.30am to 11.30am and then again later in the evening.

She said: "We’d turn down his bed, remove his teddies, do the curtains and lay out his pyjamas. But he was a bad apple and behaved like a spoiled brat.

“Really you weren’t actually meant to be seen, you’d just sneak in and do stuff. But he was a bit lazy and he would call down from his office and say, ‘Can you send the maid to shut the curtains’.

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“They were literally behind him and massive — from floor to ceiling and as high as a house. But he refused to get up and close them himself. I’d have to get on my evening dress, run up four flights of stairs and he’d be sitting there at his desk right next to them.

“One night I’d done it all, I walked back into the corridor and he came out screaming, ‘Can’t you f***ing do anything right?’ I’d left a little gap where they met but they were extremely heavy.

“I was thinking, ‘You want to shut your own curtains’ but you can’t say anything. You have to absorb it. It was awful and he brought me to tears. I was only 21 and had little life experience.”

Charlotte added: “In Yorkshire if a lad were to come home and insist on someone else drawing blinds he’d get a clip round the ear. He wouldn’t get away with that up here. That’s what folk do. They stand on their own two feet and get on with it.

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“I was a young woman, much smaller than him, and I hadn’t served in the Navy. Yet, he sat at his desk and insisted on someone else pulling his curtains. I’d be embarrassed. I’d looked after ladies-in-waiting and they’d just do things by themselves. They were lovely. But Andrew was extremely demanding. Everything had to be immaculate and he threw his weight around. I often tried to hide."

Charlotte left shortly before Princess Diana's death in 1997, and moved back to Yorkshire where she worked in hotels, and is now a full-time mother.

She added: “Prince Andrew was my main guy but I also worked at Sandringham for Prince Charles just before Princess Diana died. Charles was so nice and caring. He showed empathy and kindness.

“But Andrew was just arrogant and it’s a shame because it probably ruined my experience. Maybe if I hadn’t worked for him I would have stayed longer working for the royals.

“If I had worked for another one, like Charles or Edward, I think I would have enjoyed it much more.”

Buckingham Palace and a spokesman for Prince Andrew declined to comment last night.

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