Prince Andrew Refusing to Budge as Disgraced Duke and King Charles Battle Over Royal Lodge: 'Ain't Going Anywhere'
June 3 2024, Published 6:54 p.m. ET
Prince Andrew was asked to leave the Royal Lodge in 2023, but the Duke of York continues to reside on the premises.
The disgraced royal was stripped of his HRH status in 2022 and continues to deal with the consequences of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
“The facts remain the facts. He’s got a long lease on Royal Lodge, the family has lived there for 20-odd years and still have 50-odd years to run on the lease," a friend told an outlet.
"It’s in perfectly good repair because they spent the lion’s share of the sale of their previous house [Sunninghill Park] renovating it from top to bottom, thereby saving any draw on the public purse or the private finances of the royal family," they continued. "Them’s the facts.”
Currently, Andrew lives on the lavish estate with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who revealed her b----- cancer and melanoma diagnoses after receiving the informal eviction notice.
“It’s really rather sad, but if it’s a case of who will blink first then Andrew is going to dig in," the source continued. "He ain’t going anywhere. He has had a stay of execution with Sarah (Duchess of York, his ex-wife, who he lives with) and the king’s illnesses and he will be hoping that Charles won’t want to be seen as vindictive by turfing him out.”
Andrew lost his honorary military titles and royal salary in 2022, but Charles continues to give his brother an allowance.
“Unfortunately, if Andrew refuses to leave within a reasonable time frame, then the King may be forced to reassess the whole package of support he provides, and the duke would be required to fund the lion’s share of his security, accommodation and lifestyle costs all on his own— which, given the sums involved, is highly unlikely to be possible in the long term," the insider explained.
"Everyone is mindful of his well-being, and has his best interests at heart, but there are limits of patience and tolerance," they concluded.
OK! previously reported the duke is struggling to finance the preservation of the property due to his loss of income.
"Prince Andrew is fighting very hard to remain a senior royal," Pelham Turner alleged in an interview. "The problem is his home is in total disrepair.… I believe Charles feels that spending money on Andrew would not go down well."
"On the other hand, it was allegedly said by the queen on her deathbed to Charles to look after Andrew, who was always thought to be her favorite son," Turner continued. "King Charles is adamant that such a large house, especially if it needs a significant amount of money spent on it, he can only do that for William and [his] children."
According to Pelham, Elizabeth hoped Andrew would stay at the Royal Lodge after losing his formal role.
"Even before becoming king, Charles was urging his mother, Queen Elizabeth, to boot Andrew out of his lavish digs," Christopher Andersen alleged.
"But while she was willing to punish Andrew for his involvement with serial s-- offender Jeffrey Epstein by stripping Andrew of his royal duties, Andrew remained her favorite child, and she could not bring herself to evict him from Royal Lodge," Andersen claimed.
Sources spoke to The Times.