Prince Andrew Is 'Letting the Royal Lodge Rot' After Refusing to Move Out
Prince Andrew was asked to leave the Royal Lodge in 2023, but the Duke of York has yet to vacate the mansion.
Years after the disgraced figure's royal career ended, critics continue to wonder if Andrew can afford to maintain the property without a salary.
“He is letting this place — it has 30-odd bedrooms, and he is letting it go to ruin," Megan Markle's ex-friend Lizzy Cundy told GB News. “The conditions attached to the lease are that you have to paint it every five years and so on, he hasn’t done that."
“Even if there is a lease you have, he is not reaching the requirements. Royal Lodge is going to rot," Cundy explained. “If you look from the outside, it’s all chipped. Paint from the bricks is falling off and it costs £400,000 for the year for the upkeep."
The Royal Lodge was initially constructed in 1662, and the property holds sentimental value for Andrew.
“It’s a lot of money. Andrew is out of favor and it cannot work. He really is in trouble, but he will not leave," Cundy continued.
According to an insider, the Windsors are disagreeing about how King Charles is handling his brother's eviction.
"Charles does look at the current state of his family with deep concern," a source told an outlet. "Everyone, it seems, has issues, whether it be health, financial, legal.
"This situation with Andrew and the Royal Lodge has somewhat divided the family…with Anne, Sophie and Edward all disappointed in how he’s handled it," the insider claimed. "Then there’s the diabolical situation with his two beloved sons."
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OK! previously reported editor Charlotte Griffiths alluded to Andrew wanting Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice to take over the home.
"It's in their interest for him to keep this very grand house because, first of all, Fergie lives there, and second of all, there are some reports that the girls might actually inherit it one day, or inherit their lease over it so they might sort of want it want to keep it in the York family," Griffiths told an outlet.
"She's actually got this relationship with Charles now that's getting better and better and stronger and stronger, so she could be a bit of a mediator," the editor continued.
Despite Charles requesting Andrew find a new address, his property agreement spans over seven decades.
“In August 2003, Prince Andrew was granted a 75-year lease from the Crown Estate, encompassing Royal Lodge, several cottages, a chapel lodge, police accommodation and 40 hectares of land," conservative candidate Robin Edwards told GB News. “It is just a lease agreement though, he does not own the property, and it ultimately remains the property of the Crown Estate."
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Currently, Charles is battling cancer, and biographer Christopher Andersen predicted the king's health problems shifted his priorities.
"Andrew isn't going anywhere for the time being," Andersen shared. "It's doubtful that King Charles — who, along with his daughter-in-law Kate Middleton, is battling cancer — is in the mood for a knockdown drag-out with his brother."
"If and when Andrew does move, it will simply be because he doesn't have the money to heat Royal Lodge or keep the lights on," Andersen stated.
Sources spoke to Women's Day.