Queen reached breaking point with Prince Andrew's headache move: 'this is crazy'

Queen Elizabeth lost patience with Prince Andrew's lavish plans.

In 1986, when Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey, the couple received luxurious presents from celebrity guests. 

Among them was a special present from the late Queen-the promise of their own residence. 

Andrew chose to construct a new home tailored to their preferences. With a generous £250,000 cash gift from the Queen-work began on their grand Berkshire estate, Sunninghill Park. 

As construction progressed on the 30-bedroom mansion, the Queen grew concerned about their extravagant spending. Once the couple quickly exhausted their quarter-million-pound budget, she intervened to halt further excess. 

Royal author Andrew Lownie, in the Channel 5 documentary Fergie & Andrew: The Scandal of SouthYork, recounted: 'The Queen eventually put her foot down and said, you know, this is crazy. At that point, they hadn't built the swimming pool and the tennis court, and who knows whether the helicopter pad was there then either.'

Talk TV's Royal editor Sarah Hewson, added that mid by mid-1990, just a yea rafter construction began, the Palace refused to provide more funds. 

Hewson said: 'By this stage, Sunninghill Park was proving to be a financial headache, in particular, for the Queen, notoriously financially prudent who wa shaving to foot the ever-escalating bills.'