Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
Fact check: Did prince andrew have an affair with megan markle
Executive Summary
The available evidence does not support the claim that Prince Andrew had an affair with Meghan Markle; contemporary reporting and the documents provided focus on leaks, alleged past associations, and speculative probes rather than any verified sexual relationship. The strongest materials in the record point to rumors, investigative interest, and secondhand suggestions of contact or overlap in social circles, but no reliable source confirms an affair between Prince Andrew and Meghan Markle [1] [2] [3]. In short: there is speculation and investigative curiosity, but no established factual basis for the affair claim.
1. Investigative curiosity versus substantiated allegation: what the reporting actually says
Multiple pieces of reporting and commentary referenced in the provided material describe investigations or speculative links between Prince Andrew and Meghan Markle, but they stop short of establishing an affair. For example, a 2025 report notes that a royal biographer was probing a possible connection involving Meghan in Thailand that might have preceded her meeting Prince Harry, yet that reporting characterizes the matter as a lead to investigate rather than confirmed conduct [3]. Other materials recount allegations about staff leaks and media handling of Harry and Meghan’s relationship but explicitly do not claim any romantic involvement between Andrew and Meghan [1] [2]. These distinctions matter because investigative leads and gossip are not the same as corroborated facts.
2. Recurring themes in the sources: leaks, social overlap, and rumor amplification
A consistent theme across the documents is leakage of information and social-network overlap rather than proof of an affair. Several sources highlight claims that someone in Prince Andrew’s household may have leaked the existence of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship to the press, which has been framed in some accounts as symptomatic of palace factionalism or staff-driven rumor circulation rather than a signal of Andrew’s personal involvement with Markle [1] [2]. Other stories explore alleged past social ties—such as speculative yacht-girl narratives and encounters with figures in wealthy social circles—that have been used to imply a pattern of association but offer no direct evidence of sexual relations between Andrew and Markle [4].
3. Who is making the claims and what might their incentives be?
The materials include a mix of established authors, biographers, and outlet reporting, alongside pieces that engage in conjecture. Authors and commentators who raise speculative links may be pursuing narrative traction—books and investigative pieces often emphasize mystery and unresolved connections to attract readers, and tabloids or online outlets have incentives to amplify sensational angles. By contrast, fact-focused accounts limit themselves to what can be documented, such as staff leaks or contemporaneous reporting about Harry and Meghan’s relationship, without asserting an affair [1]. Readers should weigh the provenance and motive of each source when assessing the plausibility of such explosive claims.
4. What investigators have actually found so far: leads, not confirmations
Where reporting describes active probing—such as the 2025 inquiry by a royal biographer into a purported pre-meeting encounter—those accounts present leads and unanswered questions, not verified findings [3]. Other contemporaneous reporting cited describes patterns of rumor and staff behavior around the leak of Harry and Meghan’s relationship, again without producing evidence of a liaison between Andrew and Meghan [1] [2]. The difference between an unresolved investigative thread and a conclusive revelation is crucial: the public record to date contains investigative interest and speculative narratives, but no documentation, eyewitness testimony, or corroborated disclosures that would establish an affair.
5. Bottom line for readers and missing pieces that would change the conclusion
Based on the provided sources, the factual bottom line is clear: no credible evidence currently supports the claim that Prince Andrew had an affair with Meghan Markle. To overturn that conclusion a source would need to produce verifiable primary evidence—contemporaneous communications, corroborated eyewitness testimony, or authenticated records—that directly link Andrew and Meghan in a romantic or sexual relationship. In the absence of such material, reporting remains in the realm of rumor, investigative leads, and contextual associations that do not meet the threshold of established fact [1] [4] [3]. Readers should treat sensational claims cautiously and demand corroborating documentation before accepting such an allegation as true.