Andrea ‘Andy’ Campbell was born on 21 February 1960. She liked to say that her parents named her after the Queen’s second-born son, who entered the world two days beforehand. Whether or not this was true, Andy swiftly became not just interested in the family of her near-namesake, but positively obsessed. By the age of five, she was insisting on collecting memorabilia related to the Royal Family while her peers preferred to play with dolls and teddies. One of her prized possessions was Liza Sheridan’s book, A Day With Prince Andrew, which had been published in 1962 and gave a flattering insight into what everyday life was like for the two-year-old prince. 

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Andy’s own existence on a new-build housing estate on the edge of Basingstoke was rather less glamorous. By the time that she was a teenager, her bedroom had been turned into a shrine to all things monarchical, and she regularly petitioned her family to move to Windsor so that they would be within touching distance of her heroes. Throughout her life, she has had a favourite member of the Royal Family, in much the same way that others have preferred actors or pop stars.  

When she........

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