Prince Andrew, Duke of York

Prince Andrew was in a relationship with American photographer and actress Koo Stark. In 1982, they were spotted holidaying together in a private island called Mustique. However, they were under constant pressure from press and the palace, which led to their separation in 1983. In 1997, Prince Andrew was made the godfather of Koo Stark’s daughter.

On July 23, 1986, Prince Andrew got married to Sarah, Duchess of York at the famous ‘Westminster Abbey.’ The couple was blessed with two daughters and led a happy life together. However, their marriage ran into trouble in the early 90s, which led to their amicable separation in 1992. On May 30, 1996, their separation was made legal through a divorce.

In 2003, a report from ‘Daily Mail’ suggested that the Duke might marry a businesswoman named Amanda Staveley. However, Amanda Staveley later said in an interview to ‘The Sunday Telegraph’ that she will not be marrying the Duke.

Prince Andrew was born as Andrew Albert Christian Edward on February 19, 1960 in the ‘Belgian Suite’ of the famous ‘Buckingham Palace,’ London, United Kingdom. He was baptized by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher on April 8, 1960 in the palace’s ‘Music Room.’

Andrew’s education began at the palace, where he was taught by a governess. He was later enrolled at ‘Heatherdown School’ in Berkshire and then attended the prestigious ‘Gordonstoun School’ in Scotland, where his father and older brother had studied before. After spending two years at ‘Gordonstoun School,’ he enrolled himself at ‘Britannia Royal Naval College’ in Dartmouth.

In November 1978, it was announced that Prince Andrew will join the ‘Royal Navy,’ for which he took various tests at several places. In 1979, he got himself enrolled at ‘Royal Naval College Flight,’ where he underwent pilot training and was eventually accepted as a trainee pilot. On September 1, 1979, he was appointed as a midshipman.

He then underwent various levels of training, beginning from elementary flying training at Royal Air Force Leeming. He then learnt to operate Gazelle helicopter as part of his basic flying training at HMS Seahawk. He also learnt to fly the ‘Sea King’ helicopter and underwent operational flying training for a couple of years.

On April 2, 1982, The Falkland Islands, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean, were invaded by Argentina which led to the ‘Falklands War.’ Though Prince Andrew was initially deployed for a desk job, he was later allowed to remain in one of the operational aircraft carriers as per the Queen’s insistence.

During the war, Prince Andrew remained on board an aircraft carrier named ‘Invincible’ in order to serve as a co-pilot on one of the helicopters. At the end of the ‘Falklands War,’ Prince Andrew’s aircraft carrier returned to Portsmouth, where the vessel was welcomed by Prince Philip and the Queen, along with other family members of the crew.

On February 1, 1984, Prince Andrew was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, post which he served as a flight pilot from one of the warships of the Royal Navy. He then undertook another course at RNAS Yeovilton and was then deployed as a warfare officer in RNAS Portland.

Prince Andrew, who had become the Duke of York by 1986, did not hesitate to take on different roles while serving the Royal Navy. After serving as the Assistant Navigating Officer and as Officer of the Watch until 1989, he served as the pilot and as flight commander on a warship called on ‘HMS Campbeltown.’

On February 1, 1991, Prince Andrew became the Lieutenant-Commander of the Royal Navy and then served as the Senior Pilot of the then largest flying unit ‘815 Naval Air Squadron’ from 1995 to 1996. On April 27, 1999, he was made the Commander and by 2001, he was relieved from services, marking the end of his active naval career.

In 1999, Prince Andrew succeeded his father as the chairman of ‘Outward Bound Trust,’ a non-profit organization, and has since been working towards the betterment of the organization. From 2001 to 2011, he worked closely with ‘UK Trade & Investment,’ a government department that was in operation until July 2016.

Prince Andrew is a patron of one of UK’s premier organizations, ‘Middle East Association,’ which promotes good ties and trade with North Africa, Iran, Turkey, and the Middle East. He is also a patron of a charity organization called ‘Fight for Sight,’ which is a funded research aimed at preventing blindness and eye diseases.

In 2012, Prince Andrew visited India, where he was fascinated by the work of ‘Women’s Interlink Foundation,’ a charity organization aimed at helping women acquire the right skills to earn money with minimum investment. He later initiated a project called ‘Key to Freedom,’ which tries to find ways to market the products manufactured at ‘Women’s Interlink Foundation.’

On September 3, 2012, Prince Andrew became one of the 40 members to abseil the Europe’s tallest building ‘The Shard,’ as part of a fund-raising campaign for ‘Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund’ and ‘Outward Bound Trust.’ In 2013, he became the patron of a couple of universities, namely ‘University of Huddersfield’ and ‘London Metropolitan University.’

In 2014, he came up with an initiative called ‘Pitch@Palace,’ which allows entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas at ‘St. James Palace.’ The selected entrepreneurs are officially invited by the Duke of York and the entrepreneurs with worthy ideas will get an opportunity to meet with potential investors, business contacts, and mentors.