03-10-23, 17:23
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#142
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Re: King Charles Allows Disgraced Prince Andrew to Stay at Royal Lodge After Epstein
King Charles Allows Disgraced Prince Andrew to Stay at Royal Lodge After Striking Deal
Disgraced Prince Andrew has been granted permission by the King to stay at his Royal Lodge home after being given time to show he can find the funds for repairs to the mansion
BBC 3 OCT 2023
Prince Andrew has been granted permission by the King to stay indefinitely at his Royal Lodge home, after thrashing out a deal with the monarch.
The disgraced Duke of York has been given time to assure his brother he can come up with the necessary funds to carry out much needed repairs on the 30 room royal mansion.
Andrew and the King were at loggerheads this summer when the monarch suggested his brother move out of the property and into a smaller four-bedroom cottage on the Windsor estate, vacated by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
But now Andrew, 63, has been granted a “stay of execution”, despite his annual £250,000 handout being cut by the King and his home needing an estimated £2million in repairs. It can also be revealed Andrew had forked out more than £200,000 for roof repairs over the summer, described as an “interim payment”.
Royal Lodge required a number of repairs, said to be worth £2 million
However, the Grade II listed house is in need of much more urgent repair including damp throughout the property. Royal sources have confirmed the King and Andrew met privately at Balmoral at the end of August, during a royal family gathering, where the issues were discussed.
A friend of the Duke’s suggested there had been a “cooling of relations” with the King and his brother. Andrew was further buoyed by Prince William driving him to and from church during the family stay, representing a further thawing in the camp.
A friend of the Duke’s suggested there had been a “cooling of relations” with the King and his brother
Sources have suggested it was the King who told William to put on the show of family unity and drive his disgraced uncle to the Sunday service at Crathie Kirk church despite the monarch and his heir being the driving force behind his explosion from public life.
The Duke was forced to step down from royal duties after his car crash BBC Newsnight interview in November 2019, in which he failed to apologise for his relationship with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Since then his attempts at plotting a way back into the royal fold have been extinguished by the King and Prince William, who are said to be aligned the Duke should have no role in public life. Andrew’s finances have also been left in disarray after he was forced to pay £12million to his sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffre to stop a case of alleged assault going to court in the United States.
As part of the King’s plans to scale down the monarchy, Andrew was offered the smaller Frogmore Cottage, which had been recently renovated by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. But the pampered prince rejected the offer and refused to leave Royal Lodge, which he still shares with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, despite divorcing 27 years ago.
The brothers have come to a deal
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