In the quest for thriftiness, King Charles is changing the way
royal housing is being used. But will King Charles' penny-pinching fracture
family bonds, or can Prince Andrew maintain his 'Royal Lodge' reign?
After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, relocated to California,
they seldom used Frogmore Cottage. In a move to get the property occupied again,
the king proposed in January that Harry and Meghan move out of the royal residence.
As part two of the plan, Charles wanted his brother, Prince Andrew,
Duke of York, to downsize from Royal Lodge and become Frogmore's new tenant. However,
after living at Royal Lodge for 20 years, Charles' younger brother
isn’t on board with the move. A friend of Andrew's informed the Daily Mail:
"He has a 75-year lease and has no plans to move house."
"I mean, Frogmore College isn’t exactly slumming it,
so I think Prince Andrew might want to make it less awkward by calling the removal vans."
While this legal agreement provides the duke with some clout, in exchange for living there,
Andrew has to pay to maintain the spacious home and property. Since he hasn't been a
working royal since 2019, Andrew's income has been limited. Earlier this year, Charles indicated that
beginning in April, he would slash Andrew's yearly allotment of £249,000 or $309,315 US dollars.
To help cover the shortfall, Sarah Ferguson offered to financially support her ex-husband
so they could both continue living on the estate. Now, recent reports indicate that Charles' plan
isn't garnering royal approval, giving Andrew even more traction in his quest to stay at Royal Lodge.
Despite King Charles' enthusiasm for saving money and resources,
evicting Prince Andrew from the Royal Lodge could negatively impact the monarch. If
Charles forces his younger brother to move, it could ding his popularity among the royals
and damage family relations. As a source close to Andrew explained to The Times:
"There are other members of the family who would not want to see a member kicked out.”
In particular, Andrew's two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie,
would likely be upset with their uncle. Like Prince Harry and Charles' "peace
talks" before the coronation, Andrew desires a personal discussion with his
brother. As a friend of Andrew suggested to the Daily Mail:
"If Charles wants Andrew to play ball and help the family through these difficult times,
aren't there better ways of going about it? Why not do the decent thing, sit down and talk?"
If he can persuade Andrew, Charles would have to give his brother money
if he leaves Royal Lodge now. If the lease ends in less than 25 years,
Andrew is entitled to get a portion of what he spent renovating the home.
The king will then have to decide what to do with an even larger empty royal property, although it
could potentially become the residence of William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales.
While Prince Andrew still remains close with many members of the royal family,
his fall from grace in 2019 made international headlines and caused a scandal likely to follow
the royal for the remainder of his life. So, it isn't terribly surprising that King
Charles might see fit to move his younger brother even further out of the spotlight.
After a 2019 law was passed allowing victims of childhood sexual assault to bring civil charges
against their abusers in cases in which too much time had passed to bring criminal charges,
Virginia Giuffre filed a suit against Prince Andrew. She claimed that while she was under
the control of now-infamous sex offender Jeffery Epstein,
Andrew sexually assaulted her on three separate occasions according to Time.
"Certainly going to Jeffrey’s was not about partying. Absolutely not."
While Prince Andrew has denied the allegations,
he ended up settling with Giuffre for an undisclosed amount of money which is
estimated to have been somewhere around £12 million or $16.3 million US dollars.
Queen Elizabeth II reportedly provided £2 million to that payout. Sources close to the
family claimed that Charles disapproved of his mother's support of Andrew,
given the gravity of the allegations against him, and Andrew has not been permitted to
rejoin the family as a working royal since that time. It’s unlikely he ever will.
Only time will tell whether Charles will bend to the will of his family members who
wish Andrew to remain in his home or whether he will order the eviction as he has planned to do.