EXCLUSIVE: A royal author believes Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor could turn his back on the UK – but not to where many have speculated

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been tipped to leave the UK (Image: Getty)

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor could leave the UK for a surprising destination after his fall from grace, a royal author sensationally claims.

The former Duke of York was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office last week, before being released pending an investigation. It follows a series of damaging releases from the Epstein files that shed light on his time as a UK Trade Envoy as well as his relations with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

After the ongoing scandals of the last few months, which saw Andrew’s royal titles removed and him being forced out of Royal Lodge by brother King Charles, experts speculated whether he may take refuge in the United Arab Emirates. Given his close friendship with the emirate’s ruler, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, it might seem an obvious choice.

He had reportedly been offered the use of a luxurious 16,000 sq ft, fully staffed, six-bedroom residence within a secure diplomatic area by the Sheikh, and there he might expect a level of privacy and deference that may no longer be available to him in the UK.

But now, the author behind a biography that laid bare the secrets of the Yorks, has suggested the disgraced royal could move somewhere totally different.

Andrew Lownie has researched the former prince’s life extensively (Image: Getty)

Andrew Lownie told The Express that the UAE option might not be available to him, because the Emirati rulers value their relationship with King Charles and wouldn’t want to endanger that. “If he were to go to the Middle East, they wouldn’t want to upset the Royal Family,” he said.

“He would have to go with the [British] Royal Family’s approval – which if that were known would be very unpopular – because their links with the King are more important than their links with Andrew.”

While Bahrain doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the UK, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa is “very close to Charles”, Lownie says, and so he’s “not going to p*** him off”.

Andrew, then Duke of York, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (Image: Getty)

But the disgraced royal might have a more surprising alternative. Stressing that he can only speculate at this point, Lownie told us: “The other option, because he’s not going to go and join Assad in Moscow, is China.

Mountbatten-Windsor has “lots of business activities” in China, Lownie points out. He explained: “His former secretary Amanda Thirsk works for a Chinese company. He’s very close to the Chinese ambassador – when no-one went to his birthday party a couple of years ago, the Chinese ambassador turned up.”

Lownie stressed that at present his China theory is pure speculation. “I have no evidence of any of this except my instinct,” he said. “But that would be a place he could go. He could get lost there, it would be a big ‘two fingers’ to Britain from Xi Jinping.”

Andrew has high profile contacts in the Middle East, but there are obstacles to his moving there (Image: Getty)

Mountbatten-Windsor could “travel around” China with impunity, Lownie believes. He continued: “He could go and see his mates, go all over the place in a private jet, but that would be a base.”

Pointing out that Mountbatten-Windsor’s passport has not been confiscated, Lownie added: “I think he could go under the radar there [in China], in a way that he couldn’t elsewhere.”