Prince Andrew biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Prince Andrew (Andrew Albert Christian Edward, in full) was born on February 19, 1960 at Buckingham Palace, in London. The first child born to a sitting monarch in 109 years, his mother was Queen Elizabeth II and his father was Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. Young Andrew was taught by a governess at Buckingham Palace until he was 8 years old, and then he was sent to Heatherdown Preparatory School, in Ascot. When he was 13, Prince Andrew moved on to the Gordonstoun School in Morayshire, Scotland, where his father and older brother, Charles, went before him.

The year 1977 found Prince Andrew at Lakefield College School in Ontario, Canada, and in 1979, he attended the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth—a path that led to joining the Royal Navy as an officer and training to become a pilot.

When Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a British territory, in 1982, the ship on which Prince Andrew was stationed, the HMS Invincible, was to be sent to retake the island. Throughout the conflict, he flew on various missions and helped with casualty evacuation, transport, and search-and-rescue operations. After completing his first frontline tour, Prince Andrew was promoted to lieutenant in February 1984, and the queen appointed him as a personal aide-de-camp.

Personal Life

In July 1986, Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson, whom he had known since childhood—Princess Diana, a longtime friend, was reported to have encouraged the pairing—and once they were married, the queen named the newlyweds the duke and duchess of York. The wedding and subsequent marriage were conducted amidst a media frenzy, which in part attributed to the pair's eventual separation in 1992, as well as their divorce four years later. They had two children together, Beatrice Elizabeth Mary (born on August 8, 1988) and Eugenie Victoria Helena (born on March 23, 1990).

Recent Roles

Prince Andrew formally left the Royal Navy at the end of July 2001. Four years later, in July 2005, he was promoted to honorary captain. He holds several posts in the British army, navy, air force and Commonwealth forces, and is the UK's special representative for international trade and investment.

Prince Andrew is also involved with more than 100 organizations, including Fight for Sight, Defeating Deafness, and the Commonwealth Society for the Deaf. He is the chairman of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children's Full Stop Campaign, the executive chairman of trustees of the Outward Bound Trust, and patron of the British Schools Exploring Society and the Sea Cadets.

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