CHARLES OUSTS ANDREW!
Brotherly love is in short supply
Despite years of dragging the royal family’s name into unprecedented disrepute with allegations of sexually abusing a teenage girl, Prince Andrew has managed to grimly cling to a life of luxury.
But now there’s a new monarch on the throne, it seems the Duke of York, 63, could be on his way out, with many courtiers agreeing it was only his late mother’s love for her favourite child that kept Andrew ensconced in a $58 million royal home with a generous annual allowance.
The prince has reportedly told friends that the King, who has inherited all the royal property, is likely to remove his allowance in September, which will force him to move out of the 30-room Royal Lodge, where he lives with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.
Woman’s Day understands Charles, 74, summoned his younger brother to Windsor Castle and “told him in no uncertain terms to start making plans for his future”. Our source adds, “The King has been itching to rid himself of Andrew for years and now he finally gets that chance. The public has been calling for Andrew to be cut out and Charles wants to heed that. Brother or not, he feels Andrew does not deserve to be a drain on the royal purse.”
And Andrew is readying himself for exile, with some insiders suggesting he may follow Harry and Meghan by fleeing to the US. The Sun newspaper reports the prince is “keeping an eye” on his nephew and hopes to “forge a new career without his titles” in the States.
And Andrew’s not the only one eyeing up opportunities across the Atlantic – his daughter Princess Eugenie, 32, was last week spotted shopping for clothes in Santa Monica, while his ex Fergie, 63, reportedly spent time with Harry and Meghan after attending Lisa Marie Presley’s funeral.
“The whole York family has just about had it with being on the fringes of the royal family and as soon as the Queen died, they knew their future within The Firm would be limited,” tells our source. “The whole lot of them – barring Princess Beatrice – may end up moving to the US together, with the support of the Sussexes.”