Prince Andrew is seen horseriding with two female companions at Windsor Castle

Prince Andrew was spotted enjoying a horseride in the daffodil-strewn grounds of Windsor Castle this morning with two female companions.

The Duke of York, 61, who lives at the Royal Lodge just three miles away, donned a helmet and padded blue jacket as she headed out into the spring sunshine.

Last week it emerged the Queen is more ‘affectionate’ towards Andrew than Prince Charles because she ‘sees him as a war hero’.

The claims were made during the Channel 4 documentary Queen Elizabeth: Love, Honour and Crown, which aired on March 21.

Prince Andrew was spotted enjoying a horseride amid the daffodils in the grounds of Windsor Castle this morning with two female companions

Royal expert Clive Irving, author of the new biography The Last Queen, suggested that Her Majesty has ‘never really understood’ her eldest son Charles, 72, – heir to the throne – and is ‘puzzled by him’.

He told viewers: ‘To this day, she’s more openly affectionate to Andrew and more forgiving toward Andrew than she is towards Charles.’

Irving also claimed that Her Majesty is ‘constantly frustrated with Prince Charles’ – who has just returned from a two-day visit to Greece – because he will ‘never live up to her sense of duty’.

Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, also featured in the documentary discussing the different characters of the siblings. She called Charles ‘the polar opposite to younger brother Andrew’.

She said: ‘He’s [Andrew] noisy, bumptious, very charming, when he wants to be. He can be arrogant and rude; he has some characteristics of his own father.’

Clive Irving, filmed during a recent interview about his latest book, The Last Queen, is one of many royal commentators who appeared in the Channel 4 documentary

Clive Irving, filmed during a recent interview about his latest book, The Last Queen, is one of many royal commentators who appeared in the Channel 4 documentary

Irving also said the Queen was more drawn to being 'openly affectionate' with Prince Andrew (Pictured: Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and the Queen at Buckingham Palace in 2019)

Irving also said the Queen was more drawn to being ‘openly affectionate’ with Prince Andrew (Pictured: Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and the Queen at Buckingham Palace in 2019)

Seward added that Andrew’s active service in the Navy, following Prince Philip, including piloting helicopters on missions during the Falklands War ensured he had returned ‘like a war hero, his mother was proud’.

She said that as first and second in line to the throne at that time, Charles and Andrew represented ‘everything the monarchy could be’.

Irving went on to argue that no members of the royal family have ‘measured up’ to Her Majesty’s enduring sense of duty.

He also claims that Prince William is the only royal who fully appreciates the Monarch’s ‘very dedicated sense of duty’, saying: ‘All those around the Queen never measure up to that at any point. Her own family has not measured up to that. Charles never measures up to that.’

The Queen’s second son stepped back from royal duty in 2019, following questions surrounding his friendship with billionaire paedophile Jeffery Epstein.

The Duke of York has been accused of failing to help US prosecutors in their investigation into Epstein and the financier Ghislaine Maxwell. Prince Andrew has strenuously denied the claims.

Meanwhile during Charles’ whistle-stop visit to Greece with the Duchess of Cornwall this week, the Prince of Wales received the Gold Medal of Honour – Athens’ highest distinction – as the country marked the bicentenary of Greece’s uprising against the Ottoman Empire in 1821.

The Prince of Wales (left) after being presented with the City of Athens Gold Medal of Honour by Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis

The Prince of Wales (left) after being presented with the City of Athens Gold Medal of Honour by Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis

Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall prepare to leave Athens after visit to mark Greek independence day

Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall prepare to leave Athens after visit to mark Greek independence day

It’s been a tumultuous few weeks for The Firm; earlier this month Prince Philip, 99, was discharged from hospital to Windsor Castle to join the Queen, 94.

A statement from Buckingham Palace said that the Duke of Edinburgh ‘wishes to thank all the medical staff who looked after him’, while Her Majesty sent flowers and a note of thanks to the medical professionals who performed her husband’s heart surgery. 

Philip, the nation’s longest-serving consort, spent 28 nights as a patient in London at King Edward VII’s Hospital and St Bartholomew’s Hospital – his longest ever stay. 

He was initially admitted on a precautionary basis for an infection, before having a heart operation midway through his four-week period in hospital.

On Pod Save the Queen this week, royal commentators claimed Philip’s health has improved dramatically. 

Royal editor Russell Myers said: ‘It is good news, very good news, about Philip, I’m told he’s doing very well, actually.’

Host Ann Gripper replied: ‘Back home and causing trouble, I am sure,’ to which Myers quipped: ‘No doubt.’