Andrew ‘won’t leave’ Royal Lodge amid rumours he soon won’t be able to afford it
Prince Andrew has told friends he will refuse to leave his home on the Windsor estate even if his £250,000 a year allowance is slashed, according to a report.
The disgraced Duke is believed to pay just £250 a week to stay at Royal Lodge, a £30 million mansion where he’s rumoured to spend most of his days watching TV and riding around its 98 acres of surrounding land.
But King Charles is widely expected to cut his brother’s share of the royal purse starting in April as part of his plan for a ‘slimmed-down’ monarchy.
Andrew reportedly fears he won’t be able to afford the upkeep of the 30-room property, which he has reportedly spent £7.5 million renovating over the years.
Since his sex abuse allegations emerged he has repeatedly faced calls to start paying the market rate for the property.
The current rate, which would get him a modest one-bedroom flat in outer London, is believed to have stayed the same since he signed a 75-year-lease in 2003.
The out-of-work royal is rumoured to be considering asking for a cash payment from the King in exchange for leaving, thinking he has a right to it after shelling out for repairs.
Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, is reportedly also ‘distraught’ as she has been living with him at the property.
An insider told The Mirror: ‘He (said) he’s not leaving, there is no chance that will happen and even if the King wanted him [to] how would that work?
‘If he (the King) wants to spend millions reimbursing him for the money he’s already spent on the property, that’s another matter.’
Another source said: ‘Could you imagine a situation where the Duke threatens to sue his brother, the King, over money.
‘It would be unthinkable.’
Other people close to the royals have previously suggested Charles has no intention of leaving his brother ‘homeless or broke’ and simply wants the family to ‘use their own money to pay for things’.
A similar rule is to be applied to other members of the family, like Andrew’s daughters Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
All non-working royals are set to be refused money for personal expenses such as ponies used by Lady Loise to pull the sporting carriage she inherited from the late Prince Philip.
In January, reports claimed the Duke of York had been banned from using his suite of rooms at Buckingham Palace and would never return.
The shamed royal was stripped of his royal titles and patronages by the Queen last year after sexual abuse allegations from Virginia Giuffre.
Andrew was accused of sexually abusing the American woman three times when she was just 17, and while she was the victim of a trafficking ring orchestrated by billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. He strongly denied all allegations.
Buckingham Palace has been approached for comment.
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