Prince Andrew looks miserable as he drives through Windsor amid fears he’ll be evicted from ‘crumbling’ Royal Lodge home
PRINCE Andrew has been spotted looking miserable as he drove through Windsor amid fears he will be evicted from his Royal Lodge home.
The Duke of York appeared behind the wheel of his Range Rover around the premises of the castle.
Snaps showed the disgraced Prince behind the wheel of his Range Rover around Windsor Castle.
The royal, who no longer has official duties, appeared with a dull face after news broke his Royal Lodge home is “crumbling“.
Despite facing “extensive repairs” he refused to leave the 30-room mansion.
He struck a deal to stay at the deteriorating home following a reported row with the King and William last year.
Pictures showed crumbling paintwork and cracks forming on the outside of the the 19th-century, Grade II-listed property.
The disgraced Duke, 64, has reportedly already poured £7.5million into repairs but sources say he cannot continue to meet the £400,000 a year bill.
The Sun reported last year the home currently needs an estimated £2million in repairs with the duke reportedly paying £200,000 for roof repairs.
Very little work has been carried out on the property since Andrew spent £7m on repairs when he moved in after the 2002 death of the Queen Mother.
He shares the sprawling 30-room mansion in Windsor with just his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
Last year, Andrew and the King clashed when Charles was said to have wanted to kick his brother out of his home with courtiers saying Prince William and his family would eventually move into the vast property.
It comes as a Royal expert revealed why Charles won’t ever strip Prince Andrew of his titles.
Speaking on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show, Richard Palmer slammed the Duke of York as a “perpetual embarrassment” on the royal family.
After settling a sexual abuse case with accuser Virginia Giuffre in 2022, the 64-year-old was stripped of his public roles and tax payer-funded Metropolitan Police protection.
The duke is said to have dug his heels in over plans to further cut his privileges, which include moving out of the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
'There is no way back'
Prince Andrew’s reputation is damaged beyond repair and he will never be able to engineer a return to public life, according to one of Britain’s top PR gurus.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede, who runs East of Eden PR agency, called the shamed royal “deluded” for thinking he could ever return to royal duties and urged him to give up and ‘enjoy his life’ in exile.
It follows the release of Scoop – a Netflix movie based on the 2019 interview he gave to Newsnight.
Nick said: “There is no way back for him.
“I think you know this perpetual idea that he could still be back. Nobody cares. He hasn’t got fans.
“There’s nobody out there who’s going ‘We want to see Prince Andrew’, not one single person. I think he has to realise that. But I think it’s going to take a long, long time for him to actually understand. It’s very deluded.
“In my opinion, the best thing that he could do is just enjoy his life. He’s got gorgeous daughters. He has a great relationship with Fergie, he has a lovely house.
“Just live a quiet life.”
Reflecting on the interview five years ago – the fallout of which saw Andrew step back from royal duties “for the foreseeable future” – Nick compared the fallout to Frost vs Nixon and said he would have urged him not to do it.
He said: “If I had been advising him, I would say, go quiet, be quiet, just go to ground. You know you’re a prince. Enjoy the life that you lead, but do not open this can of worms, because that’s what it is.
“There was no admission that a relationship with somebody like Epstein was terribly toxic. There was no idea that there were loads of victims of trafficking whose lives were completely ruined by Epstein. He didn’t seem to think that the association he had with that man was anything but positive.
“I think his worst gaffe was obviously being in that interview and agreeing to it in the first place, for not realising that he’s actually going to be interviewed by a very, very good journalist who is going to ask him questions which he might not like.
“But I think what this has done is really shown how archaic Prince Andrew is in his opinions and thoughts.
“Read the room. He’s never read a room at all.”