One of the terms of the Duke’s 75-year lease agreement with the Crown Estate, which was signed in 2003 and runs out in 2079, could see him forced to repaint his Windsor home “with two coats of paint” every five years, for example.
According to Hardman, costs also include protecting several valuable and historical works of art and furniture in the home that are borrowed from the Royal Collection.
An insider said: “If he can find the money, then that is up to him, but if not, he will find that the King does not have unlimited patience.”
Family friends of the monarch, 75, have also been reported as saying the Duke’s “obstinacy” about this issue has “soured” family relations.
Hardman also revealed that the late Queen even wanted to find her beloved son Andrew another home.
A former adviser to Elizabeth II is quoted in the new chapters saying: “Had she lived another year, he would have been out.
“It was her plan to move him out, to end the lease for the Sussexes at Frogmore Cottage and to move Andrew in there. It was mainly a money thing, as she could see it was becoming unsustainable.”
The King also reportedly told his brother, who was forced to step down as a working royal over his association with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, to vacate the property and downsize to nearby Frogmore, which was the home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex until 2023.
