The siege of Royal Lodge
Andrew set for battle with the King as he digs in over mansion
A BATTLE royale appears to be in the offing after Prince Andrew vowed to resist any attempt to kick him out of Royal Lodge.
Sources close to the beleaguered Duke of York were reported yesterday as saying: ‘Andrew is going nowhere. He has a cast iron lease.’
It comes after the Daily Mail revealed last week that the King intends to evict his brother from the mansion he occupies on the Windsor estate and move him to a more modest property this year.
Sources say His Majesty has made clear he is unwilling to pay indefinitely for his brother to be guarded around the clock at the late Queen Mother’s former home, which has ten bedrooms and 30 rooms. The security bill alone is estimated to be costing Charles more than £3million a year.
The stand off has blown up again in the wake of last week’s disclosure of the ‘Epstein papers’.
This cache of court documents released in the US pertain to a 2015 civil action for defamation.
It was brought by Virginia Roberts, the most high-profile victim of billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, against his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been jailed for her part in his crimes.
Although many of the accusations reported were not new, the papers shed light on the uncomfortable closeness of the duke to Epstein. It has been claimed that Andrew spent ‘weeks’ at a time staying with the abuser, receiving ‘daily’ massages from his largely female staff.
Ms Roberts, now known by her married name Guiffre, has previously claimed she was trafficked to the UK aged 17 by Epstein and forced to have sex with Andrew. She also says she slept with the royal at Epstein’s homes in New York and the Caribbean, where an ‘underage orgy’ took place.
There has been no comment from the prince, who is holed up at his Windsor home with ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, where he has been visited by their daughter Princess Beatrice. But he has previously strongly denied all the accusations against him and says he cannot even recall meeting Ms Roberts.
In 2022 he settled a multi-millionpound lawsuit for sexual assault by her against him without admitting liability.
The furore has also again raised questions about Andrew’s future. The King has made it clear there is now no way back for his brother, stripped of royal duties and use of his HRH title by the late Queen, as a working royal.
But he is still able to attend family events, such as the Christmas Day church service at Sandringham, in a private capacity.
It is understood this will not change. A source told the Mail: ‘His Majesty bears his brother no ill will. But there has been no softening of his attitude either.’
Charles believes his brother has to ‘downsize’ with no visible means of income and a list of costly repairs needed at Royal Lodge, where Andrew has held a longterm lease since 2003.
The King offered the duke other properties, notably five-bedroom Frogmore Cottage, where Harry and Meghan used to live. But Andrew sees this as a ‘demotion’ too far.
An informed source told the Mail yesterday that the King acknowledges his brother has a legally binding lease but is determined not to bail him out over the mansion’s high upkeep costs.
It comes after The Mail On Sunday revealed yesterday that Maxwell had been ordered by a US court to search her emails for Andrew’s name along with words such as ‘sex toy’ and ‘erotic’.