A royal aide who once worked for Andrew has blamed at least part of his former boss’s decline on “others” who should “shoulder some of the blame”. And – in what seems to be a warning aimed at the Duke of Sussex – they said other “spares” and the “people who advise them” need to learn from his former boss’s downfall, reports GB News.

The un-named aide told The Sun’s Fabulous magazine Prince Andrew “grew up in a different era” – and now finds himself “helpless when judged by the standards of the 21st century”.

The staffer acknowledged the King’s bother played the “biggest part… his own downfall” However, they also said: “But you have to ask whether anyone around him over all those years should have taken him aside and told him to moderate his behaviour.”

The aide said he doubted Andrew would have heeded that advice – and suggested Harry must avoid making that mistake. Invoking the title of Harry’s biography, the source said: “There’s a lesson for all spares to the heir in this, and the people who advise them.”

Nonetheless, the former close aide clearly has sympathy for his old boss – and Harry. They said: “These guys are expected to just get on and do the job but they’re often woefully equipped to do it.

“So it maybe falls to all of us around these people to do more of the heavy lifting, to try to keep them on the straight and narrow. The trouble is, at the end of the day, they’re adults. And they can be bloody obstinate adults.”

In a defence of his old boss that could, perhaps, also apply to Harry, they added that Andrew faced “relentless criticism”. And they admitted that while a “lot was justified”, they argued, “some of it wasn’t”.

“He’s become a pantomime figure and I understand why,” continued the aide. “He painted an easy target on his back and for the most part didn’t even realise it – or if he did, he didn’t care.

“He comes from an era where he was the Queen’s son, for God’s sake. He was lauded and applauded.

“People bowed and scraped for decades. That’s got to affect your ego and I suspect he probably thought he was bulletproof.”