Queen’s treatment of Andrew and Edward ‘different to Charles and Anne’

Queen Elizabeth II treated her two youngest children, Princes Andrew and Edward, “very differently” to Charles and Anne, a royal author has claimed.King Charles III is the eldest of the Queen’s children, currently aged 73.He will turn 74 later this month, whereas Princess Anne, the next-eldest sibling, will mark her 73rd birthday next August.Prince Andrew was born a decade later, in 1960, followed by Prince Edward in March 1964.But a royal author has described a very different relationship between the late Queen Elizabeth II and her first two children, compared with the bond she had with the Duke of York and Earl of Wessex.In an extract of a new biography on the new monarch, author Christopher Andersen described how the now-King was incredibly ‘isolated’ as a young boy, which was only heightened by the arrival of his siblings. King Charles III is the eldest of the Queen’s children, currently aged 73 (Image: Getty) Queen Elizabeth II with a young Charles and Princess Anne (Image: Getty)Mr Andersen, quoting a cousin of the late Queen, claimed the young Charles felt ‘unwanted’ as his immediate family grew.The cousin reportedly said: ‘The Queen treated Andrew and Edward very differently than she did Charles and Anne.’She was very affectionate toward the two younger ones, especially Edward.’Perhaps by that time she felt more comfortable in her role as Queen.’READ MORE: ‘Spare’ torn apart as 93 percent refuse to read Harry’s story Some royal experts have pinpointed Andrew as the favoured child (Image: Getty)Mr Anderson, quoting another Buckingham Palace source shortly after the birth of Prince Edward, wrote in the extract published in Vanity Fair that it was ‘as if a switch had gone off, and suddenly there she was, a loving, caring mum’.The unnamed source then added: ‘Too late for Charles and Anne, sadly.’Royal sources have been unable to settle on precisely which of the Queen’s children was the favourite of the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh.Royal author Matthew Denison previously claimed Prince Edward clinched the title of favourite, despite appearing ‘a bit wet and a tad irritating to the rest of us’.DON’T MISS: QUIZ: Can you pass the UK citizenship test Meghan struggled with? [REVEAL] Harry poised to ‘trample on people’ but ‘will stay loving’ to Queen [LIVE] Is King Charles right to ditch plans for a slimmed-down monarchy? POLL [VOTE] Prince Edward was thought by many to be the Queen’s favourite child (Image: Getty)However, royal expert and journalist Camilla Tominey described Prince Andrew as ‘straightforward’ and the ‘more glass-half-full’ sibling.She added: ‘Although he could be a bit of a handful, the Queen enjoyed the company of the easy-going son who could make her laugh and raise the family’s spirits.”