This story about Queen Elizabeth II apparently refusing to fire a royal footman for punching a young Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor speaks volumes

The fallout from the arrest this week of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor continues to dominate the news.

And one story from the then young prince’s life that’s mentioned in a newspaper feature has gone viral – for good reason.

The Times’ has run a piece entitled “Andrew’s (very) long fall from grace”. And in it, there are stories of what the then Prince Andrew was like as a child and a young man.

And this titbit is a doozy – involving Andrew getting punched by a footman because of his “atrocious” behaviour.

As a young man, Andrew’s behaviour was “so atrocious that a footman punched him in the face.” The Queen refused his offer to resign, “on the grounds that her son had obviously deserved it.” Sadly Andrew went on and on deserving it.https://t.co/EbqLCegN0s

— Harriet Sergeant (@HarrietSergeant) February 20, 2026

Here’s the relevant part of the article.

pic.twitter.com/aFxwOypzgI

— gvanopdorp (@Gvopdorp) February 20, 2026

The suggestion that even the late Queen felt her son needed that lesson probably speaks volumes. And people online a lot of things to say about it.

1.

the concept of being such a little shit that the queen says she understands why you punched her son in the face https://t.co/A8wvQ4PYul

— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) February 20, 2026

2.

It’s a great pity the Royal family didn’t put that footman in charge of Andrew’s upbringing.

— Harriet Sergeant (@HarrietSergeant) February 20, 2026

3.

the rule of Elizabeth II in microcosm: scrupulous in the one-to-one personal interactions, letting the big picture problems slide https://t.co/VOmOrwOCA8

— David Hines (@hradzka) February 20, 2026

4.

? https://t.co/GMbriNzjhR pic.twitter.com/7BII6btOiL

— lila (@ushbaby16) February 20, 2026

5.

He sounds like a conglomeration of all the pompous, entitled and very stupid British aristocrats found in Monty Python skits. https://t.co/bq0YKesnK6

— Jennifer Coleman (@cityprowl_jen) February 20, 2026

6.

One hell of a story for the footman: "I punched the prince and got away with it". Legend.

— Dav AI studio (@dav_ai_studio) February 20, 2026

7.

There's no getting away from the reality that he was very badly parented by both Elizabeth and Philip.

— Alison Begas (@kamfinsa) February 20, 2026

8.

According to Andrew Lownie Prince Phillip wasn’t allowed to punish him as child I wonder why?

— Kieran Gray (@Koolkieran) February 20, 2026

9.

Part of being a parent is letting your children face the consequences for their behavior.

— lili von shtupp 🇬🇾🇺🇸 (@lili_shtupp) February 20, 2026

10.

There are heroes https://t.co/ia7t5SZRXj

— Faith Donkin (@DonkinFaith) February 20, 2026

Source: Twitter/X/HarrietSergeant