‘Embarrassing’ Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Didn’t Know How to Use a Credit Card Machine
It’s no secret that members of Britain’s royal family have lived a very privileged lifestyle. But what some don’t realize is that being brought up that way also means that they may not comprehend how to do mundane tasks and have no idea how to use certain technologies, such as a credit card machine, as it’s now being reported that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly Prince Andrew) had no idea how to use a credit card machine.
This surprised a lot of people simply because we don’t think something like that would stump the royals. Could you imagine if Prince William said he didn’t know how a credit card machine worked?
Here’s more on that.
Friend says Andrew didn’t know how to do some ‘real world’ things
The information came from a woman who used to be married to one of Andrew’s friends and spent time with the ex-Duke of York and his family.
The former pal told Express, “He did not have much experience of the real world and did not even know how to use a [credit] card machine, which I thought was embarrassing for a man of his age.” She added, “Although he got on well with my then-husband, I found him to be rather aloof and arrogant.”
While the ex-wife of Andrew’s friend felt that way about him, she felt differently about his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, and how they acted and presented themselves, sharing, “He had children the same age as ours, and they got on really well. Eugenie and Beatrice were both lovely girls.”
It’s not known whether Andrew ever learned how to use a credit card machine. But following his eviction from his 30-room Royal Lodge estate in Windsor and moving to a more modest five-bedroom property in Sandringham, he has far fewer staff there and may need to figure out how to do several tasks he’s not used to doing himself.
The other royal whose credit card was declined three times
In 2022, Andrew’s eldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, attended the Glastonbury Festival with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and was seen getting in line at a bar to buy some refreshments. The Daily Star noted that Beatrice was at the Pony Bistro restaurant placing an order and was “quickly left red-faced” when her card was declined multiple times.
“She tried to pay by card, but it got declined three times!” an eyewitness told the publication.
While the incident was of course embarrassing for the princess, Beatrice didn’t let it ruin her day and was later seen enjoying herself in the crowd with Edo and other festivalgoers.
Unlike her father, who received an allowance each year before King Charles cut off that in 2024, Beatrice and her sister, Princess Eugenie, did not. Because the sisters were never working royals, they did not get any money from the Sovereign Grant.
