Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal: Ex-prince had strange items delivered to hotel by female shop assistants
A diplomat claims the disgraced former prince had ‘very pretty shop assistants’ deliver bizarre goods to his Moscow hotel late at night.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is facing a fresh claim that he once had “pretty” shop assistants deliver a selection of bizarre items to his hotel.
The former prince has faced a wave of accusations that has only grown since he was stripped of his princely title last year, culminating in his February arrest on the suspicion of misconduct in public office.
His relationship to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein came under intense scrutiny with the release of the namesake files in the United States beginning in mid-December 2025.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Since then, the ex-duke’s former staff and other high-profile people who have encountered him have made claims about his behaviour and general temperament.
A freshly published biography on Queen Elizabeth II has revealed a new claim about Mr Mountbatten-Windsor regarding his time visiting Russia.
In Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story, Robert Hardman wrote about the former prince’s time as trade envoy, which is now a period of his life that is under police investigation.
Mr Hardman spoke to a diplomat, who told him about Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s trip to Moscow, and a bizarre request he made while he was staying there.
“One British diplomat in Moscow would remember a trade-related visit by the Duke, during which his top priority seemed to be the acquisition of a fur hat,” Mr Hardman wrote.
Quoting the unnamed diplomat: “He had a selection of them delivered to his hotel late in the evening - come to think of it, by some very pretty shop assistants.”
Claims of this nature have come in thick and fast over the past few months, with some women detailing what the disgraced former prince was actually like to be around.
Tara Moss, an Australian supermodel turned author, shared a “scary” encounter she had with Mr Mountbatten-Windsor on a boat filled with high-profile people.
“I did not know him as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor but as prince Andrew and I met him only once and that was via a request through a modelling agency here in Sydney,” she told her Instagram followers.
She went on to detail an uncomfortable encounter in which she said the former prince did the classic “teenage boy yawn stretch” reaching his arm up in an attempt to put it around her.
After this, Moss said she wanted to get a water taxi back to shore, but Mr Mountbatten-Windsor followed her.
“And suddenly (Andrew) wanted to get one too. And I got off this boat, got off the water taxi, and I’m on the shore here in Sydney and looking for a taxi cab, and prince Andrew is following me,” Moss said.
“His security is kind of like running behind him and this really uncomfortable moment happens.
“There’s a couple in a car next to me, their own vehicle. I’m waiting for a taxi. They just sort of looked at me and went ‘hey do you need a lift right now?’
“Suddenly they just grabbed me and they just pulled me into their vehicle. I had this look on my face that said ‘yeah’.”
Moss got in the back of the couple’s car and they drove off while Andrew was in the “background” as his security caught up with him.
“There was just this feeling I did not like about that moment at all. Nothing untoward happened to me. It was just a feeling,” Moss said.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest coincided with his 66th birthday on February 19 and shocked the world.
He worked as trade envoy from 2001 until 2011, during which time he was also in communication with Epstein. As the US Department of Justice continued to release files in 2026, fresh accusations that Mr Mountbatten-Windsor had shared sensitive information with Epstein arose.
The former prince was held for questioning for 11 hours before he was released. Though he was not charged, investigations continue, and he is being held under bail-like conditions on account of his brother King Charles, not the police.
The exile process has been in the works for some time, but came to a head in October, when it was announced that he and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson would be kicked out of the luxurious Royal Lodge.
Mr Mountbatten-Windsor remained in the 30-room Windsor estate until he was booted in early February and cast out to Sandringham.
He spent some time on Wood Farm, before last week making his final move to the more modest Marsh Farm.
Ms Ferguson has remained in hiding since the Epstein files, in which she features frequently, first began to be released on December 19 last year. Commentators understand her whereabouts is being kept from key figures in the royal family.
