Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, born February 19, 1960, in Buckingham Palace, is the third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the younger brother of King Charles III. He is eighth in line to the British throne and father to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie from his marriage to Sarah Ferguson, which took place on July 23, 1986, at Westminster Abbey and ended in divorce on May 30, 1996.[1][2][3] Windsor pursued a distinguished 22-year naval career, serving as a helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War aboard HMS Invincible, where he conducted anti-submarine missions, casualty evacuations, and search-and-rescue operations. He rose to lieutenant commander, captained the minehunter HMS Cottesmore from 1993 to 1994, and retired in 2001 as a commander, later holding honorary ranks up to vice admiral.[1][2][3][5] Post-military, he served as the UK's special representative for international trade and investment until 2011, and held colonel-in-chief positions in various regiments while patronizing organizations like the British Science Association and Outward Bound Trust.[1][2] His public life unraveled due to ties with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. In 2019, amid allegations including a lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre claiming sexual abuse (settled out of court in 2022 with a donation to her charity), Windsor stepped back from duties. Queen Elizabeth II stripped his military affiliations and royal patronages that year.[1][3][5] In October 2025, following unsealed Epstein documents and ahead of a memoir by Giuffre (who died by suicide in April), King Charles stripped his remaining titles—including Duke of York—and evicted him from Royal Lodge at Windsor Castle, mandating use of the name Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. He attended Charles's coronation in 2023 without a role. Recent scrutiny includes a cut-rate rental deal for a St James's Palace flat for his daughters.[1][3][4] (Word count: 298)