Prince Andrew's Former Maid Had a Day-Long Training on How to Arrange His Collection of 72 Teddy Bears
STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew's former maid is revealing one of the oddest parts of her job: spending an hour every day arranging his collection of 72 teddy bears.
Charlotte Briggs, who worked at Buckingham Palace in the 1990s, told The Sun that she was tasked with the process of meticulously putting the stuffed animals in their place on the royal's bed and around his room.
Video: Prince Andrew stripped of military titles and patronages
"As soon as I got the job, I was told about the teddies and it was drilled into me how he wanted them," she told the outlet. "I even had a day's training. Everything had to be just right. It was so peculiar."
Briggs said there were 72 teddy bears from around the globe, many dressed in sailor outfits.
Each day, she arranged the collection so that the biggest teddy bears were put at the back, then placed in order of size to the smallest at the front.
Then at night, Briggs or another maid used a diagram to put the teddy bears in their designated positions around the room. The small bears were stacked in an unused fireplace, while other stuffed animals — including two hippos and a black panther called "Daddy," "Ducks" and "Prince" — were placed on the bed or around the room. Prince Andrew's two favorite teddy bears were placed on mahogany thrones at his bedside.
"It was so odd," Briggs said. "After all, he was a grown man who had served in the Falklands. But he absolutely loved the teddies and was very clear about how he wanted them arranged."
Chris Jackson/Getty Images Queen Elizabeth and Prince Andrew
Former royal cop Paul Page talked about Andrew's teddy bear collection for ITV's new documentary Ghislaine, Prince Andrew and the Pedophile.
"It had about 50 or 60 stuffed toys positioned on the bed and basically there was a card the inspector showed us in a drawer and it was a picture of these bears all in situ," he said, according to The Sun. "The reason for the laminated picture was if those bears weren't put back in the right order by the maids, he would shout and scream."
According to The Sun, Prince Andrew reportedly said in 2010, "I've always collected teddy bears. Everywhere I went in the Navy I used to buy a little teddy bear, so I've got a collection from all over the world of one sort or another."
Reporter Elizabeth Day wrote about one of Prince Andrew's teddy bears in 2019 for You Magazine, recalling an "oversized teddy bear" in a waiting area outside Andrew's apartment when she interviewed him a decade earlier.
"When I was ushered in to meet Prince Andrew, I asked him about it," she wrote. "He sniggered and told me it had been a wedding gift from his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Apparently, he had found the bear waiting for him when he got into the horse-drawn carriage that was to take them from Westminster Abbey to their reception."
"I remember that he found this extremely funny, even several years after the event," she added. "It seemed rather strange to me that a grown man should be so amused by the presence of a stuffed toy."
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STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty Prince Andrew
Prince Andrew is currently facing a civil trial after a judge refused to throw out a sexual assault lawsuit against him last week. Buckingham Palace has since released a statement regarding Andrew's royal status.
"With The Queen's approval and agreement, The Duke of York's military affiliations and Royal patronages have been returned to The Queen," the palace announced. "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."
Virginia Roberts Giuffre alleges she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew at the age of 17. Andrew has denied any wrongdoing.
Prince Andrew, 61, will likely retain his title as the Duke of York and keep his place in the line of succession to the throne, which is currently ninth behind Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's two children. However, he will no longer use the style "His Royal Highness" in any official capacity.
