It feels like this is going under the radar given *waves hands around* everything else, but as someone who has followed King Charles’s two-year effort to evict Prince Andrew from Royal Lodge, the recent turn of events have been fascinating. Charles’s big scheme was to evict the Sussexes for Frogmore Cottage, and finding some way to force Andrew out of Royal Lodge and making him live in Frogmore. This whole time, Andrew has had a valid lease and enough money squirreled away to pay for his way of life. Charles made a big stink about “cutting off” the funds for Andrew’s security and Andrew’s allowance this year. Andrew still isn’t giving up Royal Lodge, and now people close to Charles are admitting defeat. In fact, everyone saying that Andrew has “comprehensively humiliated” the king, and that “heads will roll” over this whole saga. Now the Mail’s Richard Eden has written a piece where he points out that Charles should be careful not to piss off Andrew, because Andrew will happily sell out everyone in the family. Some highlights:
Charles shocked Andrew & Fergie by withdrawing funds: I can disclose that the move by the King, who has long made it clear he wants his brother to move out of Royal Lodge, has shocked friends of Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, also resident at the 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park. ‘Why is the King doing this?’ demanded one associate I spoke to. ‘And why now? It makes no sense. The King hardly needs to save money.’
Charles accidentally drew attention to his slumlord style: Indeed, the King was handed more than £27 million from the Duchy of Lancaster last year to spend as he pleases without public scrutiny. That huge sum is in addition to the £86.3 million he will receive this year from the Sovereign Grant, which pays for the Royal Family’s running costs. The decision to strip Andrew of financial support once again draws attention to the King’s finances, which are already being scrutinised heavily under the Labour Government, which is currently legislating to remove hereditary peers from the Lords. Nick Thomas-Symonds, minister for the constitution, declared: ‘The hereditary principle in law-making has lasted for too long and is out of step with modern Britain.’ And the King, surely, cannot rest easy under Sir Keir Starmer, who once called for the abolition of the monarchy.
Charles needs support, so what is he doing? However, the recent publication of stories such as one disclosing how the Duchy of Lancaster, on behalf of the King, charged the NHS more than £11 million over 15 years for the right to park ambulances in one of its warehouses, are likely to increase nervousness among monarchists. But instead of sticking together, the King is attacking his 64-year-old brother Andrew, who served bravely as a helicopter pilot in the Falklands War and worked as UK trade envoy.
Andrew has always been loyal to the crown: ‘Whatever you think of Andrew or his former wife, they have always been loyal to the Crown,’ one of their friends insists. ‘It’s quite remarkable how Sarah has managed to pursue a successful career in public life, and has given countless interviews, yet has never said anything damaging about the Royal Family.’ The friend is too discreet to spell it out, but Andrew and Fergie’s loyalty stands in contrast to the disloyalty of another duke, the Duke of Sussex, who, with his wife, has made a fortune out of attacking the Royal Family via Harry’s tawdry memoir, Spare, and their Netflix ‘docu-series’ Harry & Meghan. Is it wise of the King to force his brother to seek his own fortune in order to pay the costs of maintaining and running Royal Lodge, which are estimated to be as much as £1 million per year?
Charles should call off the dogs: The King should call off the dogs and reassure Andrew that he won’t be booted out of his family home if his sources of income dry up. Otherwise, his brother might be forced to follow the example of Charles’s disloyal younger son and make millions from spilling royal secrets. And no one would want that.
None of this is new, this has been Andrew’s go-to threat for several years now. He continues to say to his brother: capitulate or I’ll start spilling family secrets. The thing is, Andrew can’t do what Prince Harry has done – write a massively successful memoir and give multiple sympathetic interviews – because Andrew is fundamentally a pathetic and villainous figure. Andrew can’t suddenly make millions of dollars by selling his story. But Andrew could absolutely do a huge amount of damage if he ever chose to speak out about his family. What’s even more interesting is that in this limited battle, Andrew had more sympathy from the media. They seem quite happy that Andrew “humiliated” his brother so thoroughly too.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.