Prince Andrew secretly plotted with Princess Diana to try to stop Charles from becoming king. Photo / AP
Prince Andrew secretly plotted with Princess Diana to try to stop Charles from becoming king. Photo / AP
Prince Andrew secretly plotted with Princess Diana to try to stop Charles from becoming king, with William to take his place on the throne, a bombshell biography claims.
The Duke of York is claimed to have wanted William to accede to the throne when the Queen died, with Andrew himself acting as regent if this happened before William turned 18.
Andrew is also said to have "lobbied" the Queen to stop Charles from marrying Camilla, claiming she was "untrustworthy".
The allegations are from royal biographer Angela Levin's new book on Camilla, which charts her journey from being a royal outcast to becoming Queen Consort.
Levin claims a "senior insider" told her that Andrew wanted to "push Prince Charles aside".
Prince Andrew secretly plotted with Princess Diana to try to put William on the throne. Photo / AP
"Andrew lobbied very hard with the hope that Charles would not become king when his mother died, and that William would wear the crown," she wrote.
"When Diana was alive, through her friendship with Andrew's wife Sarah, she plotted with Andrew to try to push Prince Charles aside so Prince Andrew could become Regent to Prince William, who was then a teenager.
"They were dark and strange times, where paranoia became reality, and this was a worry.
"His behaviour was very, very negative and extremely unpleasant to the Queen, who disagreed. I was told it was one of the rare occasions he didn't get his way.
"Nonetheless, he was apparently very angry that he couldn't rule the country in some way. He remained so hostile to Camilla's emergence and acceptance that it's doubtful it has ever been forgiven."
Levin also claims the palace insider says Andrew was "poisonous" about Camilla to the Queen.
King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort. Photo / AP
"He tried to persuade the Queen to block Charles from marrying Camilla by being quite poisonous, mean, unhelpful and very nasty about Camilla," the source said.
Buckingham Palace has not commented on the claims.
Andrew and Charles have a strained relationship, with the King looking to slim down the monarchy in a move that could force out the duke's daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
The King reportedly does not want Andrew to play any royal role in future, following revelations about his dealings with late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
