Just one month after the release of Scoop on Netflix—which details Prince Andrew’s disastrous 2019 Newsnight interview on the BBC with Emily Maitlis—the hits keep coming for the disgraced Duke of York, who is reportedly facing eviction from his longtime home, the 30-room Royal Lodge, after an unpaid bill to the tune of $503,000, Us Weekly reports.
The outlet writes that Andrew is said to be facing eviction from the $37 million mansion by his older brother, King Charles, after neglecting to pay for its half a million dollar upkeep per year. Andrew has been fighting to stay at the historic Royal Lodge—a 19th century, 90-acre property that is under the ownership of Charles’ estate—which he shares, curiously, with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson (and has for two decades). The home costs $503,000 to keep up annually, and neglect has caused the home to fall into reported disrepair. “Damp issues and wear and tear are now said to ravage the building,” Us Weekly reports. “Cracks are becoming worse in the brickwork, there’s plaster falling off, and there is peeling paint.”
Charles is said to have previously demanded that Andew and Fergie vacate the property and move somewhere smaller, with Frogmore Cottage—the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle—said to be an option. “However, it was reported that Andrew thought moving to that home would’ve been too big a downgrade,” Us Weekly writes. (For the record, at one point Andrew’s youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie, and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, occupied the home.)
Andrew’s annual allowance, believed to be $314,000, was stopped after his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein 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 repeatedly and vociferously denies these claims, and he and Guiffre settled out of court in 2022.) Before losing his annual allowance, “Andrew spent millions on renovations, and if [he] was forced to move, the Crown Estate could end up owing him money,” Us Weekly reports. Andrew took Royal Lodge over from the Crown Estate back in 2004 on a long-term lease, and Charles is said to be reluctant to simply kick his brother out of the property.
“The Duke is clearly not going without a fight,” a source told Metro Online. “This will all probably end in tears, most likely his.” It was rumored that the Prince and Princess of Wales—who are currently living at the four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage, also in Windsor, with their three children Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis—might move into Royal Lodge, and “it has also been said that the Crown Estate wouldn’t rule out renting the Royal Lodge commercially, either, in order to get the best return,” Us Weekly writes.
“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.”
Seward added that “There is no doubt the King will be alarmed at the true state of the residence after the Duke assured him everything was in hand,” and said that Charles does not “have any wish to finance him for the rest of his life.”
The Sun reports that, in 2004, Andrew signed a 75-year lease and only pays 250 pounds per week to live there. (The only other occupant of the home’s 30 rooms is Fergie.) Though the home is “crumbling” and “needs extensive repairs,” The Sun reports, Andrew refuses to leave, and he and Charles cut a deal last summer allowing Andrew to stay. “Andrew is going nowhere,” The Daily Mail reported in January. “He has a cast iron lease.”
Outside of the Royal Lodge drama, Andrew was seen with the rest of the royal family at both Christmas at Sandringham last December and at the traditional Easter church service at St. George’s Chapel in March. (Fergie was also at both occasions, despite not attending either gathering since the 1990s.) That said, “The King and Prince William have made it quite clear to Prince Andrew that he has no chance of ever being involved in royal duties again, regardless of how he may feel that brief time out of the spotlight could have led to a return to public life,” royal editor Russell Myers said.
