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In the context of his predecessors some may find his record disappointingly modest
He may have embarrassed past and present governments, and indeed the royal family, but Prince Andrew, Duke of York, has at least continued a hallowed tradition of dukes by keeping society intrigued, entertained and scandalised. His predecessors, with dukes of York conspicuously numbered among them, featured in sexual shenanigans of all shapes and sizes, and indulged in ill-advised friendships and the accumulation of mountainous debts – even resorting to corruption to clear them. George III's brothers and sons set a record yet to be matched. One brother, the Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, having offended the king by marrying surreptitiously and beneath him, had an affair with his wife's lady in waiting which produced a child. A second, the philandering Duke of Cumberland, was hauled up for adultery and made to pay £10,000 in compensation, which the King had to lend him. The excesses of George IV have been much celebrated; less so those of his brother, Frederick, who was charged, but cleared, in the Commons with obtaining commissions for would-be army officers who had paid his mistress to procure them. Younger brother the Duke of Clarence, later William IV, sired 10 illegitimate children with an actress called Mrs Jordan. Still more lurid claims would rightly or wrongly surround Victoria's grandson, Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale. Today's Duke of York has been seriously imprudent. Yet assessed in this context, some may find his record disappointingly modest.
