Buckingham Palace is trying to crank up the pressure on Prince Andrew to voluntarily give up his 30-room residence at the Royal Lodge. Photo / Getty Images
Prince Andrew is in advanced talks with the King’s representatives about quitting his Royal Lodge home, the Telegraph understands.
Buckingham Palace is trying to crank up the pressure on the Prince to voluntarily give up his 30-room residence, from which he cannot legally be evicted under the terms of his “cast iron” lease.
Discussions over the Prince’s living arrangements have been happening on a daily basis since reports of him living there rent-free caused a public outcry. However, it is understood that the Prince is resistant, and negotiations are continuing.
While the Prince’s initial response was to dig his heels in and cite the fact that he has 50 years left on his pre-paid lease, there is a growing sense of inevitability that he will now move out.
The main sticking points are where he will live instead, and how much money he will receive in compensation for the millions he has spent on the property, which is leased from the Crown Estate.
Royal sources report a mood shift in the Palace in recent days, including a renewed determination to force Andrew out and a recognition that his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, need to be “looked after” and reassured that their own homes in St James’s Palace and Kensington Palace respectively will not be affected.
There had been hopes that the Prince’s living arrangements could be sorted out quickly to draw a line under the constant stream of negative publicity about his indiscretions – with rumours swirling on Thursday that he was hours away from moving – but finding a solution that works for all parties is proving difficult.
The King had hoped that by forcing his brother to drop his Duke of York title and other honours, the furore over his relationship with the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and with suspected Chinese spies would die down. However, it has failed to do so.
Buckingham Palace will be keen to avoid a long, drawn-out parliamentary inquiry into any matter that touches on royal finances, which has given added urgency to the matter of resolving Andrew’s accommodation.
On the question of where the Prince will live if he leaves Royal Lodge, the most trouble-free solution would be to house him in one of the King’s privately-owned properties, most likely Sandringham or Balmoral, where he could have the use of one of the many self-contained homes on either estate. That would enable him to live rent-free without any cost to the public purse.
But Andrew is not keen to be exiled to Norfolk or Scotland and wants to remain in London or Windsor, close to his daughters.
Moving him to a smaller property on the Windsor estate would minimise the public’s outrage at him living a life of taxpayer-subsidised luxury, but he would have to pay rent which he might not be able to afford.
Moving him into Windsor Castle or Buckingham Palace would also risk accusations that he was being rewarded rather than punished, and there would be a cost to the public purse of accommodating him in buildings that belong to the nation.
Meanwhile, there is also the question of what would happen to Royal Lodge, as its proximity to Windsor Castle makes it difficult, if not impossible, to rent out privately.
Under the terms of the lease, which he signed in 2003, the Prince is entitled to a refund of some of the money he paid upfront, which included a £1m payment ($2.4m) for the 75-year lease and more than £7.5m ($17.3m) in refurbishment costs. If he leaves before next June, he will be in line for a refund of £557,596 ($1.2m), which reduces by £185,865 ($430,274) each year until 2028, when he will be owed nothing.
The Prince has argued all along that it makes no sense for him to walk away from a property which cost him around £10m ($23.1m) before he even moved in, and which has cost millions more in upkeep since then, regardless of the rent being waived.
That means he is likely to demand considerably more than the money he is legally owed, which might have to be funded by the King, as the Crown Estate answers to the Treasury, which is unlikely to allow public money to be used.
The living arrangements of Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who has her own rooms in Royal Lodge, are an added complication. It is unclear whether she would move with the Prince or find somewhere to live on her own.
The Prince of Wales is understood to have been keen to stay out of the negotiations, as he remains on good terms with his cousins Beatrice and Eugenie, but has made it clear that he wants the matter resolved.
In recent days, Prince William and the King have made it clear through their representatives that Beatrice and Eugenie are blameless in the furore and that their homes in the royal palaces are safe.
In a further blow for Prince Andrew, his royal banner has been removed from St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. It was linked to his membership of the Order of the Garter, which he gave up last week.
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.