King Charles, Prince Andrew had 'desk-pounding shouting match' over monarch's idea to downgrade nieces: author

Before Prince William and Prince Harry were known as the battling brothers to rock the House of Windsor, there was King Charles and Prince Andrew.

In 2008, several years before Andrew’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein came to light, his older brother had an idea to streamline the monarchy, and it didn’t go well.

"Charles floated the idea that several Windsor offspring be demoted, stripped of their HRH standing, have their royal protection taken away, and, most revolutionary of all, kicked off the royal payroll," Christopher Andersen, author of "The King," told Fox News Digital.

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"Prince Andrew fought these proposals that would have resulted in his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie each being forced to earn their own living and downgraded from ‘Princess’ to ‘Lady,' a suggestion that was shouted down in an angry confrontation between him and Charles," Andersen said.

According to Andersen, the Duke of York didn’t think twice before he decided to "throw a fit."

"By all accounts, it was a literal battle Royale, a desk-pounding shouting match between the two brothers, both known for their volatile tempers," Andersen claimed. "Keep in mind that this was years before Andrew's involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse scandal essentially forced the king to put Andrew out to pasture."

"By all accounts, it was a literal battle royale, a desk-pounding shouting match between the two brothers, both known for their volatile tempers."

— Christopher Andersen, author of "The King."

Andersen’s claims came shortly after several royal experts told Fox News Digital Beatrice and royal cousin Zara Tindall have stepped in to support William as his father and Kate Middleton undergo treatment for cancer.

Andersen said Charles, 75, had good reason to think about the monarchy’s future before his feud with Andrew came to a head.

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"In 2006, Prince William joined the Way Ahead Group, his grandmother Queen Elizabeth's tight-knit circle of family and anonymous advisers whose whole purpose was to chart a future course for the monarchy," Andersen explained. "Its members included Charles and his siblings Anne, Andrew, Edward, and, of course, the queen. Details of the group's twice-yearly meetings were top secret.

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"The queen's decisions to voluntarily pay income taxes, to mothball the royal yacht HMS Britannia, and to end primogeniture — the thousand-year-old old rule stipulating that males have precedence over females in the line of succession — all grew out of Way Ahead Group deliberations," Andersen explained. "Although Prince Harry was then third in line to the throne, he was not invited to join.  By 2008, deliberations focused on future King Charles' vision of a more efficient, streamlined monarchy."

While demoting Eugenie and Beatrice would have been "a major shakeup," Andersen claimed the rivalry between the brothers goes way back.

"The king and Prince Andrew have always had a strained relationship," Andersen said. "The queen lavished attention on both Andrew and the youngest brother, Edward. Their father, Prince Philip, doted on Anne. They were often described as ‘two peas in a pod.’

"But as the oldest and heir to the throne, Charles was left out in the cold, emotionally abandoned by his parents," Andersen claimed. "Charles was 11 when Andrew was born, and the king has resented his younger brother ever since."

The queen, England’s longest-reigning monarch, died in 2022 at age 96. At the time, rumors were swirling that Charles, who ascended to the throne, would strip Beatrice and Eugenie of their titles.

The Duke of York became eighth in line to the throne, but his controversial friendship with Epstein, along with allegations of sexual assault, forced Buckingham Palace to strip Andrew of his military affiliations and royal patronages. It was believed that Charles would continue removing any trace of affiliation to the dynasty after the prince, 64, "embarrassed" the family with his actions.

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Beatrice, 36, and Eugenie, 34, are the daughters of Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, 64. The couple endured a highly publicized divorce in 1996 but have remained friendly through the years.

"Beatrice and Eugenie have always been particularly close to their cousins, William and Harry," said Andersen. "Even during Andrew’s scandalous, headline-making divorce from their mother, the sisters remained favorites of the queen.

"It is ironic that now, with the king and Princess Kate battling cancer, they are proving indispensable to the king," Andersen shared. "Charles certainly must be glad that he didn't go through with his plan to have them phased out. … Ironically, Prince Andrew and Fergie are out in the cold, but their two daughters are still very much in the royal thick of things."

Andersen also claimed the princesses have remained devoted to serving the crown, even if it means pulling away from certain relatives.

"William and Kate are fond of Beatrice and Eugenie, and it's worth noting that Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, were once very close to them as well," Andersen said. "In recent months, however, the sisters have pulled back on their friendship with the Sussexes and made a show of their allegiance to the crown. Beatrice and Eugenie may have acted as peacemakers in the past, but I don't see that happening now."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020 and moved to California. They have since publicly aired their struggles with royal life, which has further strained their relationship with the family.

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"Standing with Harry and Meghan means standing against the king, William and Kate," Andersen added. "That's something the sisters can't afford to do at the moment, certainly not when they are earning so many goody points with the royal family by pitching in as they have while the king and Kate are sidelined by their cancer treatments."

"It never hurts to be on the right side of the monarchy, something their parents learned the hard way," Andersen added.

Andrew stepped back from royal duties in 2019 due to his connection to Epstein, a convicted sex offender. He was also stripped of his honorary military titles. Before she died in 2022, the queen also removed his honorary leadership of various charities, known as royal patronages, and barred him from using the title "his royal highness" in official settings.

The council in the northern city of York voted unanimously to withdraw the prince’s "freedom of the city." The honor was awarded to Andrew in 1987 after the queen made him the Duke of York. He is the first person to be stripped of the status, an honor that dates back to medieval times. Local leaders have since argued that Andrew should also lose the title of Duke of York. A spokesperson for Andrew declined to comment at the time.

In a lawsuit filed in 2020, Virginia Roberts Giuffre accused Andrew of sexually exploiting her on three occasions in 2001 when she was 17. Andrew has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

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In 2022, a U.S. judge dismissed the sex abuse lawsuit against Andrew, who settled with Giuffre. The prince made a substantial donation to his accuser’s charity and declared he never meant to malign her character.

Epstein was found dead behind bars in 2019 at age 66. The U.S. attorney in Manhattan prosecuted Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, for helping recruit his underage victims. She was convicted in 2021 and is serving a 20-year prison term.

Andrew was named in previously secret court documents related to Epstein that were unsealed in the new year. It was part of a 2015 lawsuit filed against Maxwell by Giuffre.

The records, including transcripts of interviews with some of Epstein’s victims and old police reports, contained reminders that the millionaire had surrounded himself with famous and powerful figures, including a few who have also been accused of misconduct.

Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright and The Associated Press contributed to this report.