The One Thing Keeping Ex-Prince Andrew From Taking His Own Life — His Love of Himself and Total Delusion He Is a 'Victim'

Embattled Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is clinging to his sense of self-importance and a belief in his own victimhood as senior family members place both him and Sarah Ferguson under discreet "well-being" monitoring at Royal Lodge in Windsor, out of deep concern for their mental well-being and amid fears the pair could take their own lives.

OK! can reveal the drastic step of placing the pair under a suicide watch-style program run by staff came after months of increasing scandal and humiliation for Andrew, 65, who was stripped of his remaining royal titles and honors along with Ferguson, 66 – with the pair also ordered to leave their $40 million mansion by King Charles, who has set a Christmas deadline for them to find new accommodation.

Despite their divorce, the former couple have lived together at the residence for years, but insiders say that in the aftermath of their dizzying fall from grace, both have displayed growing instability and isolation. According to multiple sources, anxious relatives have informally initiated a "suicide watch" out of fear the pair could be at risk of self-harm as pressure mounts.

A palace insider said: "These are not just isolated people–these are two individuals who have been completely overwhelmed by everything that has happened. The level of despair they're exhibiting is unlike anything the family has seen before."

Another source added: "The situation is being monitored with care, because the last thing anyone wants is tragedy casting its shadow over the family."

A longtime adviser to the royals said: "It's not just about the press or the public anymore. It's about whether Andrew and Sarah can cope with their new reality. It sounds bleak, but these measures could be life-saving."

Andrew, according to staff, now spends his days obsessing over golf, angrily sharing conspiracy theories and retreating into computer games such as Call of Duty – behavior palace insiders have described as "unrecognizable" from his former self.

Some aides have even suggested that he's spending time with VR pornography, as jokes circle in the corridors.

Ferguson, meanwhile, regularly seeks solace in a private bar on the estate, known by staff as "The Doghouse," where she is said to be "regularly" drowning her sorrows with a handful of loyal employees. She has also been weighed down by an administrative onslaught, with advisers pressing her to erase the word "Duchess" from business documents and handle tangled company filings that some insiders say have left her exhausted.

And family friends say Ferguson is urging daughters Princess Beatrice, 37, and Princess Eugenie, 35, to stay away from their parents and to avoid being tainted by association. "The mood has turned glum in the household," confided one close family friend. "Relatives are truly worried about them, and the girls have been told to keep their distance for their own emotional safety and to protect their own brands."

Another bleakly quipped: "Andrew and Sarah are enough of a burden alive – but nobody needs them turning up dead from some kind of suicide pact, as that would be a far bigger headache for the King than if they quietly disappeared abroad!"

Despite the glum outlook, insiders say the "good news" is Andrew is "far too egotistical to take his life."

A palace aide said: "Despite being stripped of titles and essentially made homeless by his own brother, Andrew is genuinely convinced he is the victim here. That belief, combined with an ego so massive it is beyond belief, are the only things keeping him afloat. He thinks his life is worth too much to take and is still asking staff to call him Prince. If he stopped acting like that, there would be more cause to worry about him, but for now, his huge sense of self-importance is intact."