By now, the Prince William and Prince Harry brother-against-brother drama has become (sadly) so much a part of the royal family narrative that, in addition to death and taxes, it’s one thing we can consistently depend on in this world. (Hopefully someday that will change.) But, it appears, William and Harry aren’t the only brothers in the royal family with beef against each other, as The Sun reports that King Charles and Prince Andrew’s feud over Andrew’s longtime home, Royal Lodge, is “so bitter” that it rivals that of William and Harry’s.
As Marie Claire reported last month, the 30-room Royal Lodge—where Andrew lives (curiously) with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson—is reportedly “crumbling” and “needs extensive repairs,” but he still refuses to vacate the property, which his older brother Charles asked him to do last year. A quick refresher on the situation: Andrew has been fighting to stay at Royal Lodge, a 19th century, 90-acre property that is under the ownership of Charles’ estate. Charles is said to have demanded previously that Andrew and Fergie move elsewhere, with (and here comes the game of Windsor Estate musical chairs) Frogmore Cottage reportedly being leveled as the best option. (Royal Lodge and Frogmore—where Harry and Meghan Markle lived until last year—are both on the Windsor Estate; Harry and Meghan were evicted from Frogmore last year, reportedly in the wake of the publication of Harry’s bombshell memoir, Spare, in January 2023.)
The familial tension gets even thicker when it’s thrown into the mix that Charles very likely wants Andrew and Fergie out of Royal Lodge to make way for the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, and their three kids Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, who currently reside in the smaller four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage, also on the Windsor Estate. (See what we mean when we say Windsor Estate musical chairs?)
Of the possibility of moving into Frogmore, Andrew said, per Us Weekly, that he thought moving into the smaller property “would’ve been too big a downgrade,” so he refused. (For the record, after Harry and Meghan moved to the U.S., Andrew’s younger daughter Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, lived in Frogmore for a time, fresh on the heels of Harry and Meghan making extensive renovations to the home.)
Andrew took over Royal Lodge from the Crown Estate back in 2004, and signed a 75-year lease, which, obviously, hasn’t expired yet. So what’s the problem? Well, first of all, Andrew, whose annual allowance (believed to be $314,000) ended after his association with convicted sex offender and Andrew’s own sexual assault allegations leveled by Virginia Guiffre, who was 17 when she claims Andrew had sex with her, forced his step back as a working royal. (Andrew, who settled out of court with Guiffre in 2022, still denies these claims.) Before losing his annual allowance, Andrew spent millions on renovations, but now could face eviction from the $37 million mansion by Charles after neglecting to pay for its $503,000 annual upkeep. This neglect has caused the home to fall into reported disrepair.
“The state of the residence will be of great concern to the King after everything that has gone on and been discussed in regards to the house,” royal biographer and editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward said, per OK. “Prince Andrew was told he must take charge of the necessary renovations or he will have no cause to stay in the house.” She continued that “There is no doubt the King will be alarmed at the true state of the residence after the Duke [of York, Andrew’s royal title] assured him everything was in hand,” adding that Charles does not “have any wish to finance him for the rest of his life.”
Tension has long simmered between Charles and Andrew, as Andrew was “often dubbed [Queen] Elizabeth’s favorite child,” The Sun reports; royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said, per The Sun, that the differences between the two brothers have been evident their entire lives.
“They seem to have gone on as complete opposites, really, in so many ways,” he said. “Of course, there’s a 12-year age gap between King Charles and Prince Andrew”—Charles was born in 1948 and Andrew in 1960—and Fitzwilliams added that the two men “hadn’t got that much in common,” as “Charles is rather sort of intellectual, serious, sensitive. Andrew, rather bumptious, outgoing.”
Kate Mansey, royal editor of The Times, said on her podcast “The Royals with Roya and Kate” that Charles and Andrew's feud appears to mirror that of William and Harry: “I think we think about Harry and William falling out, but this is very, very bitter now between Andrew and the King,” she said. “What’s so interesting is just how fraught the relations have got between the brothers.”
She continued “Somebody said to me, a friend close to the King, said it can be done tidily, or it can be done untidily. Getting rid of Andrew from Royal Lodge can be done with grace and dignity, or it can be forced upon him. So this is sort of fighting talk because Charles is paying a lot of money to have him stay there—his security, his allowance.” (In addition to his annual allowance, Andrew’s police protection was also removed when he stepped back from royal duty, which Charles apparently subsequently stepped in to pay.)
As the Royal Lodge debacle continues, 18 months on, Fitzwilliams said that “The King has undoubtedly got a problem, and the royal family very, very clearly have [an] extremely serious and embarrassing perpetual problem with Prince Andrew.” He added “It’s an embarrassing situation. The facts are, however, he still remains a terrible and dreadful embarrassment to the royal family, but that is a different matter.”
One brother-against-brother feud was one too many; two? Well, two feuds mark not a fluke but a pattern, and it’s a pattern we hate to see repeated.
