Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, forever plagued by his prolonged association with the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, is now measuring forces against his brother, King Charles III.
Andrew was forced out of royal duties after settling a sex-abuse case in the US with Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre, in 2022.
And now, besides heavily curtailing his brother’s appearances in Royal family’s official events, Charles III wants him to vacate the 30-room Royal Lodge, and move to much smaller Frogmore cottage.
Page Six reported:
“A real estate row between the two brothers has reached farcical proportions, with the disgraced Andrew making a mockery of his big brother’s pressure campaign to get him to leave his grace-and-favor home, which in theory is the king’s gift.
Andrew has hired builders to do some much-needed repairs on the damp and mold problems at his $46 million house, Royal Lodge, in an effort to stop his brother from throwing him out — thanks to cash he inherited from their mother, Queen Elizabeth.
‘Andrew was advised that he should move out while work was undertaken because the house is virtually a building site but he’s refused because he’s so terrified that the property might be seized in his absence’, according to [a Buckingham Palace source.”
Andrew has spent millions of pounds into the home that he took a 75-year lease on, expecting it would be his home for life.
The Daily Beast:
“Friends of King Charles have ridiculed the idea that Charles is using upcoming repairs at Royal Lodge, Prince Andrew’s massive home in Windsor Great Park, as a means of pressurizing Andrew to move out, but suggested that the disgraced prince will ultimately have to leave the gigantic, 30-room, crenelated property as it will be too expensive for him to maintain without subvention from the monarch.”
The king reportedly cut Andrew’s ‘allowance’, but even if he has not, it’s would not be feasible from him to afford the mansion in the long run without the Crown’s support.
King Charles has tried to slim down the monarchy, all the while keeping multiple homes at his disposal, including Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, Balmoral, Sandringham, Highgrove, Clarence House.
“The question is whether Andrew is now bluffing in the hope of getting a bigger financial settlement for surrendering his lease, or if he really intends to defy his brother by staying put in Royal Lodge. If that really is the case, and he and his family cannot afford to repair and maintain it, Charles will have to choose between allowing a historic home to crumble around his nightmare sitting tenant—or pay for the upkeep himself after all.”
The controversy is raging while, once again, the Duke of York faces questions over his long relationship with the late convicted pedophile and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
As part of the discovery in the Virgin Islands lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase bank, emails have emerged suggesting he may have lied in his ‘car-crash’ BBC Newsnight interview.
Daily Mail reported:
“Epstein’s victims last night called on the prince to speak to the FBI, which he has so far refused to do. It is not known if Andrew – who was seen riding in Windsor today – knew Epstein had mentioned him in the email exchange.
The victims’ representative, US attorney Spencer Kuvin, told the Mirror: ‘It appears that either Epstein was highly overselling his relationship with Prince Andrew or that the duke may not have been entirely truthful about when his friendship ended.’
[…] An email written by Epstein to JP Morgan on August 31, 2011, suggested Andrew as a possible investment partner because ‘he is now allowed to make money’.”
As all this is unfolding, questions arise over the future of Andrew’s daughters, princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, in ‘The Firm’ – as the Royal Family calls itself.
Express heard a Royal family expert:
“Beatrice and Eugenie can become whatever they want to outside of the royal family but their parents have squandered any hope of the girls elevating themselves within the fold.”
Their mother, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, is also a liability to them, being thought of as a ‘loose cannon’.
Despite divorcing Andrew in 1996, she still lives with him at the Royal Lodge, having published 46 books, giving frequent interviews and having just started a podcast, to ‘set the record straight’.
“Whether she’s telling the media about the ghost of the Queen haunting their corgis [dogs] or mic-ing up to record a new episode of her brand-new podcast… There is no telling what she will do or say next, and the girls feel those repercussions.”
