Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson their spectacular royal wedding in 1986, and the parents of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have most recently been in the public eye as royal watchers speculate about the nature of their relationship. However, in his bachelor days he was in the spotlight as the third-in-line to the throne behind older brother Prince Charles. Biographer Andrew Morton, in his 1983 book “Andrew: the Playboy Prince”, delves into the prince’s younger days and a hair-raising “row” at Dartmouth Naval College, where the prince trained in 1979.
Mr Morton writes: “Andrew made headlines in every major newspaper after a charity race ended in a major row.”
The author explains: “The idea of the race was simple and proceeds were to be donated to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
“The race was between the Dartmouth college and their fierce rivals.
“The Dartmouth task was to smuggle several firkins of beer through opposition lines to a tiny Dartmoor village called Milton Combe.”
The Duke of York (Image: Getty)
Prince Andrew pictured at his passing out parade form Dartmouth college (Image: Getty)
However, he continues: “The ‘game’ got out of hand with residents complaining of ‘loutish behaviour’ as the high-spirited sailors manned illegal road blocks, frightened elderly residents and caused a minor road accident."
West Devon councillor Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Greenness said: “Students behaved like drunken louts.
“It was just a grown-up version of cops and robbers with a total lack of responsibility.
“It made not one hoot of difference as far as I am concerned whether Prince Andrew took part or not.
