Prince Andrew Asked a Teenage Girl to Marry Him Before Wedding to Sarah Ferguson, Book Claims: 'It Was an Impossible Dream'

Before there was Sarah Ferguson, there was teenager Sandi Jones.

According to Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, Prince Andrew asked Jones to marry him when he was just 16 years old and attending school in Canada.

The exes met when he watched Princess Anne compete in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. They reunited six months later while the young prince took part in an exchange program at Lakefield College School in Ontario, Canada.

Lownie reported that Jones and Prince Andrew "began spending nearly every weekend" together.

"In a way, he quite resented being a prince," Jones told the author. "He hated the fact that he was marked out for attention, that he could never be on his own...the fact that his royal bodyguard always followed him around got on top of him."

In the book War Of The Windsors: The Inside Story Of Charles, Andrew And The Rivalry That Has Defined The Royal Family, author Nigel Cawthorne revealed that Jones taught Prince Andrew to do a dance called "The Bump." The royal even "managed to ditch his protection officer" while skiing so that he could "spend time alone with Sandi."

Eventually, the now-65-year-old wanted to take their relationship to the next level.

"On one summer’s evening, as they sat in the silence of the wilderness, he asked her to marry him and run away with him to Gretna Green," Cawthorne wrote. "But in their hearts, they both realized it was an impossible dream."

Jones was later invited to her ex's wedding to Ferguson in 1986 but found it difficult to place her feelings aside.

"Were we lovers? Use your imagination," Jones told Lownie. "We were very, very close. As close as any couple can ever be. I still love him. I'd marry him tomorrow if he asked me."

Ferguson and Prince Andrew split in 1996 after 10 years of marriage and share children, Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35.

Prince Andrew made headlines recently for his connection to the Jeffrey Epstein s-- trafficking scandal. According to a recent report, he once welcomed Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Harvey Weinstein to the Royal Lodge. The visit took place in 2006, just two months after a U.S. arrest warrant was issued for Epstein, alleging he sexually assaulted a minor.

On Thursday, October 30, it was reported that King Charles stripped his brother of all titles and royal privileges.

"His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew," Buckingham Palace said in the statement. "Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor."

The former prince previously announced he is relinquishing his Duke of York title.

"In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family," he said in a statement. "I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life."

Both he and Ferguson are being forced out of the Royal Lodge as well.