Prince William is well known to have been a driving force behind the push for stronger action against Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, over his long-standing association with the late convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

William’s aversion to his uncle goes deeper as he already viewed him as an “ignoramus” before the Epstein scandal came to light according to royal author, Russell Myers, who penned the book ‘William and Catherine: The Monarchy’s New Era’.

The author appeared on Newsweek’s The Royal Report podcast: “Certainly, he made his voice known that Andrew should have no place within the monarchy, both publicly and privately. He should be banished from the institution.”

Russell added: “He [Andrew] should have no role within the family because he would be a stain on it. And certainly, if they were going to keep him close, as the late Queen and indeed Charles did for a couple of years in his reign, that was going to be a major problem.”

The late Virginia Giuffre, who tragically died in April 2025, accused Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of sexually assaulting her in 2001 when she says she was a Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking victim.

Giuffre filed a lawsuit in New York that Mountbatten-Windsor settled in 2022 for an undisclosed sum while denying liability.

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In February Thames Valley Police opened an investigation into misconduct in a public office, following reports the former Duke of York had leaked confidential government documents to Epstein while a UK trade envoy.

Andrew was arrested on his 66th birthday last month by Thames Valley Police and released under investigation.

A palace source quoted in the book told Myers: “Long before he [Mountbatten-Windsor] was embroiled in the scandal, [William had] always thought his uncle was a bit of an ignoramus. He would question ‘what does he actually do?’, but it was more than that.

“He’d seen how Andrew behaved in front of staff, ordering people about, the aggressive or dismissive manner, they’d never seen eye to eye. William has a relationship with his cousins [Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie] … so he takes no umbrage with them, but there’s no love lost for Andrew or Sarah.”