Prince Andrew once had everything.
Not only was he the Queen's favorite son, but he was also a naval officer and decorated war hero whose dashing looks made him the “Playboy Prince” – one of Britain's most desirable men.
Recently, however, the Duke of York has become known for one of the most extraordinary falls from grace ever experienced by a member of the royal family.
Today he turns 64 years old. However, it is not clear how much celebration will take place at Royal Lodge, his magnificent home in Windsor Great Park.
Prince Andrew and King Charles pictured as they attend a thanksgiving service to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee at St Paul's in June 2012
The late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with their children Princess Anne, Prince Charles and little Prince Andrew on his first holiday at Balmoral in September 1960
One of the first images of newborn Prince Andrew in the arms of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. It was taken at Buckingham Palace in March 1960
The Queen, Prince Andrew, the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne on board the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible in September 1982 following Prince Andrew's return from active service in the Falkland Islands
Andrew's ill-advised association with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein led to his being stripped of his royal patronage and military affiliations and his forced retirement from public life.
In 2015, Virginia Giuffre (formerly Roberts) claimed in a lawsuit that she was tricked by Epstein into having sex with Prince Andrew three times when she was 17.
Later, in 2021, Giuffre filed a lawsuit against the prince over the alleged encounters. He repeatedly denied the claims, but settled the case in 2022 – without a confession – with compensation paid to Giuffre.
The prince has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and continues to do so. There is speculation that he was under pressure to settle down so as not to overshadow his late mother the Queen's platinum jubilee that same year.
However, his reputation remains in tatters.
The Epstein affair is far from the first time that Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's third child has been at the center of a controversy.
Here, Mail Online looks back on his life on his 64th birthday.
Andrew Albert Christian Edward was born at Buckingham Palace on February 19, 1960 and was the first child of a reigning monarch in 103 years.
For the first 22 years of his life – until the birth of Prince William – he was second in line to the throne: the replacement heir to Prince Charles, allowing him to enjoy a freedom never available to his brother.
After being educated at Heatherdown Preparatory School and Gordonstoun in Scotland, which Charles famously loathed during his time there, he followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Navy in 1979.
In 1981, he realized his childhood dream of becoming a pilot when he received his “wings” and the award for best pilot from Prince Philip.
In April 1982 he was sent to the Falkland Islands as part of the Royal Navy task force to expel Argentine invaders from British territory. During the ten-week war he cut a courageous and adventurous figure as a helicopter pilot.
Andrew became famous for a particularly daring mission: “diverting” enemy anti-ship missiles. By the time Britain won and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's approval ratings soared, Andrew had become a national hero, earning the nickname Randy Andy thanks to his liaisons with a string of beautiful women, including actress Koo Stark.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their wedding at Westminster Abbey in July 1986
The Duke and Duchess of York with their two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie, pictured in 2001
Shortly afterwards, Prince Andrew met Sarah Ferguson. Although they had known each other since childhood because Fergie's father, retired army major Ronald, had played polo together as children and her father was also Prince Charles' polo manager, it was Princess Diana who founded her brother. 1985 in-laws with the lively redhead.
“We had to sit next to each other,” Andrew said of Diana’s dating during their engagement interview. “The whole thing sort of started at Ascot.”
Andrew and Fergie got engaged just nine months later, and in July 1986 they married at Westminster Abbey and were given the titles of Duke and Duchess of York by the Queen.
They had two children together, Princess Beatrice, born in August 1988, and Princess Eugenie, born in March 1990.
However, the marriage was soon beset by problems, the most memorable of which was that images of Fergie having her toes sucked by American businessman John Bryan were splashed across the front pages of newspapers in 1992.
She later said of this year, which the Queen called her “annus horribilis”: “Since the beginning of the year, Andrew and I had been talking about a separation.” Not because we had stopped caring for each other, but because I was seeing the end of my royal life had reached strength.'
They divorced in 1996 but remain close to this day, even sharing a house at the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
After leaving active military service in 2001, Prince Andrew was appointed the United Kingdom's special representative for international trade and investment, but his 10-year term sparked major controversy.
His ties to corrupt politicians in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Libya and Turkmenistan raised concerns.
His judgment was questioned after he held meetings with Saif, the son of Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi, and when he received the son-in-law of ousted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali at Buckingham Palace.
His ties with Timor Kulibayev, the Kazakh president's son-in-law, also came under scrutiny after Mr Kulibayev bought the Duke's Sunninghill Park home in 2007 for £3 million more than the asking price of £12 million.
He also became known as “Air Miles Andy” after flying thousands of miles by helicopter everywhere and often managing to fit a visit to the golf course into his work trips.
In fact, one often wondered what exactly the prince was doing on all of these foreign excursions. Simon Wilson, British deputy chief of mission in Bahrain from 2001 to 2005, wrote in the Chron that the duke was “more commonly known in the British diplomatic community in the Gulf as HBH: His Buffoon Highness.”
In 2010, Fergie was forced to apologize for a “serious error of judgment” after she was exposed by a sting operation by Mazher Mahmood, the “fake sheik”, in which she promised to gain access to her former husband in return for 500,000 £.
The following year, Andrew's career as a trade envoy ended when it was revealed that he was friends with American financier Epstein, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for recruiting a minor for prostitution.
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Andrew, Duke of York attend day three of Royal Ascot in 2019
The late Queen is accompanied by various members of the British Royal Family at the Trooping the Color flypast in 2019. Andrew, who was supposedly her favorite child, stands by her side
King Charles III, Anne, Princess Royal and Prince Andrew at Westminster Abbey for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 in London. Forced to abandon his royal duties at the front, Prince Andrew was not allowed to wear a military uniform
Photos of the two walks in Central Park emerged – after Epstein served his time in prison. It was later revealed that Andrew had previously stayed at Epstein's homes in Florida and Manhattan.
Following Epstein's suicide in August 2019, the Duke decided to give a no-holds-barred interview to BBC's Newsnight about his past friendship with the convicted sex offender. It was an absolute disaster.
He denied ever meeting Giuffre and gave a series of bizarre excuses to demonstrate why her claims that he had sex with her were false, including that he was unable to sweat that he at the Pizza Express in Woking and that he tended to be “too honorable”.
Prince Andrew was reportedly initially happy with his performance, unaware that the interview had been a disaster.
But his words opened the door to Giuffre's legal action against him, which was apparently settled in 2022 with his mother's money.
It was devastating for him to be stripped of his royal duties and titles with the Queen's consent.
Following the Queen's death and Charles' accession to the throne, it is even less likely that Andrew will regain a prominent public position within the family. The King and Prince William are both said to be firmly convinced that as long as he remains part of the family, there is no way back to his royal duties.
There has also been speculation that the king wants Andrew to leave his home of more than 20 years, the Royal Lodge.
However, recent reports suggest that the brothers have reached an agreement that will allow Andrew and Sarah to stay in the 30-room villa.
The Duke and Duchess of York are seen leaving the Royal Lodge in April 2023. Although the Duke and Duchess are divorced, the Duchess lives in virtually the same house as her former husband
Prince Andrew with Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, center and right, as they attend the Easter Sunday Mattins at Windsor Castle in March 2013
The Yorks have a lot to do.
Last summer, Sarah was treated for breast cancer and in January she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer. She continues to support her former husband and recently said that she promised the Queen before her death that she would be there for him.
The couple has three grandchildren: Princess Beatrice's baby daughter Sienna Mapelli Mozzi, born in September 2021, and Princess Eugenie's two children, August Brooksbank, born in February 2021, and Ernest, born in May 2023.
Their focus in the coming months will undoubtedly be on Sarah's health, but if Prince Andrew was hoping the dust would settle on his disgrace, that's unlikely: Scoop, the Netflix drama based on his Newsnight interview , is expected to be shown in the US this spring.