Prince Andrew, the Queen’s controversial son, is her favorite child.

Queen Elizabeth has favored Prince Andrew since he was a child

Her third-born child has always held a special place in the queen’s heart. “When Prince Charles and Princess Anne were born, the Queen wasn’t able to spend the time with them that she would have wished to,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told CNN. “However, in 1960, when Andrew was born, the Queen had been on the throne for eight years and didn’t have to leave the toddler to tour the Commonwealth for months. She was able to give him more attention and Andrew was someone with whom she’s had a particular affinity .”

The queen had more time for her children after Andrew was born.

Andrew was born 12 years after his older brother, Prince Charles, and the Queen had agreed to take a break from her royal duties by the time he arrived. “Evidence indicates she grew warmer and more flexible as time passed,” historian Robert Lacey told Town & Country. Andrew was the first child born after the queen relinquished some of her royal duties to focus on becoming a mother, and she was able to be a more present mother to her two youngest children than she was to Charles and Ann.

A royal commentator, Richard Fitzwilliams, linked the queen’s new lifestyle to her close relationship with her third son: “She was able to give him more attention and Andrew was someone with whom she’s had a particular affinity,” Fitzwilliams told CNN.

Prince Andrew charmed the world in his early years.

Andrew decided to go in a different direction than his older brother. Rather than attending college, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. He also fought in the tumultuous Falkland Islands War in 1982, when Britain wrested control of the Falkland Islands from Argentina. H e was viewed as a war hero, whereas Charles had no such distinction.

As Andrew and Ferguson began dating publicly in the late 1980s, they were seen as the relatable “it” couple of the decade, following the obsession with Diana and Charles earlier in the decade. Before Andrew and Ferguson’s wedding in 1986, The New York Times mentioned “Fergie Fever” in London. The queen was also satisfied with Andrew’s decision, according to the Times, “after some of his earlier flings.”

The Epstein Scandal

The prince has been involved in a number of scandals and controversies over the years. The most recent one, his links to notorious sex abuser and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, is throwing a particularly ominous shadow over him.

The prince says he let the royal family down by associating himself with Epstein, even after the American was convicted as a sex offender, in an interview with the BBC that will be broadcast in its entirety on Saturday.

During the interview, which was taped at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, Prince Andrew said, “I stayed with him and that’s the bit that… I kick myself for on a daily basis.”

“Because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and I let the side down, simple as that.”