Prince Andrew

Andrew Albert Christian Edward Mountbatten-Windsor, Duke of York, was born on 19 February 1960 as second son and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. As a child of the Queen, Andrew was addressed from birth as "His Royal Highness" and held the title "The Prince Andrew". At the time of his birth he was second in the line of succession to the throne, directly after his older brother Prince Charles. After the birth of Charles’ sons William and Harry, he became fourth in line.

Education and Career

As with his older siblings Anne and Charles, a governess was responsible for Andrew’s early education at Buckingham Palace. Later Andrew was sent to Heatherdown Preparatory School in Ascot before attending Gordonstoun in Northern Scotland in September 1973. He graduated in July 1979 two years later with A-Levels in English, history, economics and political science. Andrew decided not to attend a university, but instead to enter the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and to make a military career.

Currently, the Duke of York works as the United Kingdom’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. In this function it is his duty to represent the UK at various trade fairs and conferences all over the world.

Family

Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson on 23 July 1986. On the same date the Queen made him Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh. Andrew had known Sarah Ferguson since childhood. They had met each other occasionally at Polo matches and fell in love with one another at Royal Ascot in 1985. The couple seemed to have a happy marriage until the late 1980s. Andrew and Sarah are parents of two daughters (Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie). However Prince Andrew's frequent travel due to his military career and the critical media attention focused on Sarah, led to conflicts in the marriage. On 19 March 1992, the couple announced their plans to separate. Just a few months later, the press revealed an affair between Sarah and her then-financial advisor, John Bryan. Subsequently, the marriage was divorced on 30 May 1996.

Since it was a friendly split, the Duchess continued to live at Andrew’s house until 2004. When he moved to the Royal Lodge, Sarah purchased Dolphin House, a mansion next to it. After a fire had destroyed the Dolphin House in 2008, Sarah moved into the Royal Lodge, again living together with Andrew. Since their divorce, they have joint custody for their daughters and they use to go on family-holiday together regularly.

Sources

http://www.britroyals.com/family.asp?id=andrew

http://www.thedukeofyork.org/Home/AbouttheDuke/Background.aspx

http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/windsor_15.htm

http://www.royal.gov.uk/ThecurrentRoyalFamily/TheDukeofYork/Background.aspx