It’s no secret that both Prince Harry and Prince Andrew have a strained relationship with the rest of the Royal Family. And their behaviour over the years earned them a secret nickname amongst the staff at Buckingham Palace.
Prince Andrew has been at the centre of numerous scandals – from his links to an alleged Chinese spy through to his disastrous Newsnight interview, in which he spoke about his connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
Harry, meanwhile, is now all but estranged from the royals having levelled a series of shocking allegations against the monarchy alongside his wife Meghan Markle. According to The Times’ Royal Correspondent Kate Mansey, it has led to both Harry and Andrew being given the same nickname by royal courtiers.
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On Times Radio’s The Royals with Roya and Kate, she said: “I did a kind of wrap up in the Times magazine at the end of last year in which a couple of people actually mentioned him and Harry to me as being known as the Dukes of Hazard.
“As the two difficult dukes who are problems for the king, but perhaps Andrew more so.”
It comes after the Duke of York recently faced another setback when he was snubbed from a dinner in honour of his alma mater at Windsor Castle – even though he lives just a few miles away on the royal estate.
His older sister, Princess Anne, held the dinner at Windsor last Thursday in her role as Warden for Gordonstoun school – which Andrew attended along with his brothers, King Charles and Prince Edward.
But he was not invited to attend the recent celebration. “I’m sure the duke would have loved to have attended the dinner if he had been invited,” a friend of Andrew’s told the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden.
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Prince Harry, meanwhile, is set to return to the UK next month for his trial against the publishers of The Sun. But a reunion with his family seems unlikely.
Prince William is said to have completely cut ties with his younger brother, while King Charles was ‘too busy’ to see Harry during his visit in London in May 2024.
Now, royal expert Richard Fitzwilliam has predicted that Harry will turn down an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace next month, as some sort of protest against his family.
He told GB News: “We do know that Buckingham Palace was offered for the last visit and rejected in favour of a hotel. Now, that’s never been explained. I don’t understand. It’s obviously part of a protest.”
He added: “So far as security is concerned, we know he’s appealing the Home Office’s decision not to automatically grant him security. Who would have thought he’d prefer a hotel to Buckingham Palace?”