the essential
Several British media outlets report that tensions have been running high between the two brothers in recent months. At the heart of the friction is Prince Andrew’s reluctance to leave the “Royal Lodge”, a house belonging to the British family valued at more than 35 million euros.
Is a fratricidal war once again raging in the House of Windsor? The British tabloids have renamed the affair “The Siege of the Royal Lodge”. At the heart of it, King Charles III and his brother Prince Andrew, who are battling over one of the residences of the British crown, the “Royal Lodge”. The house, which has 30 rooms, is located in the royal estate of Windsor Great Park in Berkshire. It is currently occupied by Prince Andrew and his family (his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and their daughters Beatrice and Eugenie of York). For how much longer? That is the question.
According to several British media outlets, the king asked his younger brother to leave the premises. He would like him to move to the more modest “Frogmore Cottage”, the former residence of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which he refused.
Karen Roe from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Charles has reportedly already decided to suspend his brother’s private security service, which the king has been funding since 2022, reports The Sun. He could also withdraw his generous allowance of 4 million pounds per year (around 4.75 million euros).
The sovereign is reportedly considering two options: either Andrew agrees to move to Frogmore, or he finds a way to become financially independent to take care of his security detail and the upkeep of the mansion himself. Something that could prove complicated, if not impossible, for the younger prince, due to a lack of sufficient income. The prince has had to give up his royal duties because of his links to American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and accusations of sexual assault that ended in a financial settlement.
A series that revives the scandal
Andrew moved into Royal Lodge in 2003, following the death of its previous occupant, the Queen Mother Elizabeth, and signed a 75-year lease. According to sources cited by the BBC, Charles’s desire to oust his disgraced brother and relocate him to a more modest residence is more a matter of financial pragmatism than family disagreements exacerbated by popular pressure.
Andrew’s return to the news must nevertheless play a role: A Very Royal Scandalan Amazon-produced series revisiting his disastrous 2019 interview, is set to be released on September 19. Back in April, the film Scooptold on Netflix the behind the scenes of this confession as failed as it was spectacular.
The Royal Lodge, estimated to be worth £30 million (over €35 million), has also deteriorated over the years and is in need of major renovation work. The residence could be used by the Crown Estate, which manages the royal family’s portfolio, and thus be rented out in the future, the BBC suggests.
