Royal expert Mr Witchell made the claim following the intense backlash to Prince Andrew’s interview with Emily Maitliss. Witchell told BBC News that interview was proof that the broader situation in Buckingham Palace unravelling. The BBC’s royal commentator said: “They would have advised, if their advice was sought, not to do it. The Queen was informed but she is 93 years old now, and she is not exercising the strong control she had, if she ever did.

He said: “There is now a lack of strong central control.

“We have had two episodes within just a couple of months, of senior members of the royal family doing it their way.

“We had Prince Harry with his rant against the tabloid media which was absolutely against the advice of his communications officials who were in despair over it.

“We have a similar situation now. The mainstream advisors of the Queen at the Palace were not a part of this Prince Andrew debate.”

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“Her second son comes along, says I’ve thought about this terribly hard, I really want to do it. And the Queen would say, are you sure?

“Andrew discussed this with his closest advisors, with his daughters, but he himself decided it was something he wanted to do.

“He will have hoped that it drew a line under it – but looking at this morning’s headlines, there are still significant question marks over whether this was a wise move.

Witchell agreed with ex-Buckingham Palace press officer Dickie Arbiter that Prince Andrew “bulldozed his way” into the BBC interview.

Mr Arbiter queried why the prince decided to answer questions about his links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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For several months the Duke of York had been facing questions over his ties to Epstein, a 66-year-old US financier who took his own life while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.

Mr Arbiter described the interview as “excruciating”.

He said: “They will be wondering: was this the right decision? Was the right decision made? Who made the decision to put him on? Did he make it himself or did he seek advice within the palace? “My guess is that he bulldozed his way in and decided he was going to do it himself without any advice.

“Any sensible-thinking person in the PR business would have thrown their hands up in horror at the very suggestion that he puts himself up in front of a television camera to explain away his actions and his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.”

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