Whenever we get a glimpse of the real lives of various British royals, it’s inevitably a disappointment. I consistently think the Prince and Princess of Wales’s lives sound really boring and unstimulating – they don’t seem to have any good hobbies or passions, they have all of that access and they do nothing with it. They are chronically work-avoidant, but that becomes a job unto itself – avoiding work, coming up with excuses why you can’t work, preparing for your one day of work, briefing nonsense about your busywork. Well, speaking of a life of quiet desperation, Prince Andrew apparently spends his days in a TV room, watching golf and playing Call of Duty.

Prince Andrew spends much of his time inside Royal Lodge playing “Call of Duty” for hours on end, a new report claimed Wednesday. The prince, who no longer has any ceremonial engagements, lives in what The Sun describes as a kind of arrested adolescence — days spent in front of “wall-to-wall TV,” rising late, and drifting through the rooms of his 30-bedroom Windsor mansion with little to do beyond watch television or go for a twice-weekly ride. Although Andrew’s social life is expected to pick up when the pheasant shooting season begins in ten days’ time, for now, insiders told The Sun that his life has narrowed to a claustrophobic routine.

The report says he wakes in the late morning before taking breakfast served by staff. After that, he spends much of the day in a vast sitting room where a giant screen “takes up almost an entire wall,” playing video games or watching war films and golf coverage. One source told the paper: “He loves games like Call of Duty, war games with helicopters. He certainly doesn’t play FIFA — he’s got no interest in football.”

Royal author Ingrid Seward revealed: “A friend of mine went there to have a meeting with Fergie. The door was opened by a butler, and they went into a very grand reception room, which was hung with beautiful paintings from the royal collection and there were fine carpets and furniture. He and Fergie sat at a huge mahogany table. The butler served hot drinks but there was no sign of Andrew at all. But as he was about to leave, Fergie said, ‘You must meet Andrew.’

“The prince was in a huge sitting room and Andrew was just lying there on a massive sofa watching TV on the biggest screen my friend had ever seen. It seemed to take up the whole of a wall. It seemed to him that their lives were quite separate. She was carrying on with the business of doing business and he was watching television. His life is very empty, he’s very lonely and I think he’s probably extremely bored. I remember Fergie telling me way back that Andrew always loved video games and he’s an aficionado of television.”

Sources close to the household told The Sun that Andrew rarely leaves the estate except to ride twice a week or to shoot on nearby grounds. Even then, he is said to be nervous of being photographed. “He’s not a particularly popular figure [at the stables],” said Seward, who added that local photographers often linger near the park hoping for a lucrative snap.

Seward said: “His life is very empty, he’s very lonely, and he’s probably extremely bored.”

[From The Royalist Substack]

They also note that Andrew was more social when his mother was alive – she would visit him often at Royal Lodge for tea, or he would visit her at the castle. Since she died in 2022, Andrew just spends his days like this – playing video games and watching TV. I don’t believe he tries to avoid photographers – there are always photos of him driving around Windsor or riding horses around Windsor Great Park, and he’s not hiding whatsoever. While I buy that he has very little going on, I think he’s probably more social than this story indicates. He seems to still have friends in the aristocracy, he’s still invited to shooting parties, and I’m sure he keeps in contact with various despots, spies and shady characters. You know what he should do to break up the monotony? Give testimony before the US House committee investigation Jeffrey Epstein. He should also write a book! And if all else fails, he should be investigated by American and British authorities. That would break up his day.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.