Prince Andrew believes the King is “clearing the way” to take back Royal Lodge for Queen Camilla — and here’s the shocking part: insiders say Andrew made it clear in a private meeting that he “is not leaving,” meaning a potential legal battle between two siblings in the same reigning dynasty could erupt. A source close to the royal family revealed that Andrew believed the move was not a “budgetary restructuring” as announced, but a plan to hand over the reins to Camilla. What’s fueling the drama isn’t the question of stripping the house — it’s that Andrew has set a condition in return if the King takes any further steps toward Royal Lodge. What was that condition — and why did Charles’s team “cover up” the information after the closed-door meeting?
Prince Andrew believes the King is trying to force him out of his Royal Lodge home because he wants to give it to the Queen, The Telegraph understands.
The Prince is refusing to move out of his 30-room residence near Windsor Castle where he lives rent-free, despite coming under pressure from MPs to move to a more modest property.
Andrew has what he regards as a cast-iron lease on Royal Lodge, which means his older brother cannot legally evict him.
Having been forced to give up his Duke of York title – following fresh scandals over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted paedophile, and his relationships with suspected Chinese spies – the Prince is facing a possible parliamentary inquiry into his living arrangements.
On Thursday, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, confirmed he would be writing to the Treasury and the Crown Estate Commissioners “seeking further information on the lease arrangements for Royal Lodge”. The answers to the questions will determine whether the committee takes the matter further.
Reports of the King wanting the Prince to move out of Royal Lodge pre-date the latest Royal crisis, but the idea has been given fresh impetus by the disclosure that the Prince is not paying rent.
Family friends have told The Telegraph that he believes the King has an ulterior motive in wanting him to leave Royal Lodge.
He and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, his daughters, have told friends that the King wants Royal Lodge to be the Queen’s base in Windsor should she outlive him. It would mirror the living arrangements of Queen Elizabeth II’s mother Queen Elizabeth, who lived in Royal Lodge when she became a widow and moved out of Windsor Castle.
The King’s aides flatly deny the suggestion, but the Prince has nevertheless become fixed on the idea, which surfaced a year ago, that Royal Lodge was being earmarked for the Queen.
In truth, Her Majesty, who became a member of the Royal family by marriage in 2005, is far less grand than Prince Andrew and is unlikely to want to live alone in such a large residence even for only part of the year.
She still owns Ray Mill House, the Grade II-listed family house in Wiltshire she bought with the divorce settlement from Andrew Parker Bowles, her first husband, and it is said to be the place where she feels most at home.
