Andrew was born second in the line of succession to the British throne and is now eighth, and the first person in the line who is not a descendant of the reigning monarch. Andrew served in the Royal Navy as a helicopter pilot and instructor and as the captain of a warship. During the Falklands War , he flew on multiple missions including anti-surface warfare , casualty evacuation , and Exocet missile decoy.
In , he married Sarah Ferguson and was made Duke of York. They have two daughters: Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Their marriage, separation in , and divorce in attracted extensive media coverage. As Duke of York, Andrew undertook official duties and engagements on behalf of his mother. In , Virginia Giuffre alleged that, as a year-old, she was sex trafficked to Andrew by convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Andrew denied any wrongdoing. The lawsuit was settled out of court in February ; in the settlement, Andrew paid an undisclosed sum to Giuffre.
He was baptised in the palace's Music Room on 8 April Andrew was the first child born to a reigning British monarch since Princess Beatrice in During March and April , he was enrolled at the Royal Naval College Flight, undergoing pilot training, until he was accepted as a trainee helicopter pilot and signed on for 12 years from 11 May Andrew's place on board and the possibility of the Queen's son being killed in action made the British government apprehensive, and the cabinet desired that Prince Andrew be moved to a desk job for the duration of the conflict.
The Queen, though, insisted that her son be allowed to remain with his ship. At the end of the war, Invincible returned to Portsmouth , where Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip joined other families of the crew in welcoming the vessel home. The Argentine military government reportedly planned, but did not attempt, to assassinate Andrew on Mustique in July He undertook the Lieutenants' Greenwich Staff course. He was promoted to lieutenant-commander on 1 February and passed the ship command examination on 12 March His main responsibility was to supervise flying standards and to guarantee an effective operational capability.
