Prince Andrew is reportedly refusing to leave his run-down £30m estate amid fears he won’t be let back in. It comes following the fallout of his humiliating interview with Newsnight in 2019 which has recently been depicted in Netflix hit, Scoop.
Starring Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell, Scoop explores just how the team managed to snag the interview with the Duke of York over his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew sat down with Emily Maitlis for a 45-minute probing interview that explored in great detail allegations of sexual assault made against Andrew that he has consistently denied.
His reputation was left vastly depleted and he stepped down from royal duties soon afterwards. And his long-term home, Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, has come under question, The Mirror reports.
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It has been alleged that King Charles wants his younger brother to move out of the gargantuan 30-room mansion and into a more modest residence. Andrew signed a 75-year lease for Royal Lodge back in 2003 and lives there with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
However, early last year it was said that Charles was keen for his brother to move out of Royal Lodge and that he had even offered his brother the key to Frogmore Cottage, Meghan and Harry’s former UK home, that they had recently renovated.
The monarch’s wish for Andrew to downsize came as he reportedly cut his £250,000 annual allowance that he had been previously provided with by the late Queen Elizabeth. Royal Lodge is said to require repair works costing around £2 million and without his allowance, Andrew reportedly is unable to afford the upkeep of the 98 acre estate.
The Queen Mother was the last occupant of the Royal Lodge and after her death, Andrew took the Grade II listed property on, which was built in the 1600s. It’s thought Prince William and Princess Kate have their eye on the property as they are currently living in the much smaller Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor Estate.
But so far Andrew is “refusing to budge”, it has been alleged. One source said: “As far as he (Andrew) is concerned, he isn’t moving. He can not be any clearer. He’s not going to leave and move into another property, he has a lease, he’s spent millions on doing the place up and doesn’t want to move. Whoever is behind this would have to drag him out and that clearly isn’t going to happen.”
Andrew is said to have paid a mere £250 a week for the property and made it clear that as his lease is with the royal estate and not Charles – he won’t be breaking it. Over the two decades he has lived there, he is understood to have spent over £7 million on upkeeping and repairing the mansion and has told the King in “no uncertain terms” that he intends to stay.
Even when urgent roof repairs needed to be undertaken, it was reported that Andrew was hesitant to leave the property in case he couldn’t get back in. A source told MailOnline: “It’s become farcical.
“Andrew has roof repairs scheduled later this summer which will take several months to complete and has been advised that staying in the house during those renovations could prove problematic. But he is reluctant to leave.”
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