I was *just* sitting here thinking about how extraordinarily weird it is that there’s been no movement on getting Prince Andrew out of Royal Lodge. Note: Andrew should face criminal investigation and prosecution for his many crimes, but as far as King Charles is concerned, it was simply odd that Andrew was still somehow in possession of Royal Lodge and his prince title and everything else, really. Well, the dithering days are over and Charles finally did it.
Prince Andrew will be stripped of all his royal titles and will leave Royal Lodge, Buckingham Palace has said. He will no longer be known as Prince Andrew and will instead be called Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
In a statement, the Palace said: “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew. Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.
“These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.”
“Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.”
Good. It’s not enough, not near enough, but this is good. It should have happened years ago, but Queen Elizabeth II refused to do it, and then Charles launched a “bring Andy in from the cold” operation as some kind of screw-you to Harry. So here we are – a day late and a dollar short, but hey, it’s something. I certainly hope that Andrew’s new accommodation will not be Frogmore Cottage. That simply makes zero sense to do all of this and just shuffle him off to a renovated five-bedroom cottage just outside Windsor Castle. Update: The BBC reports that Charles is sending Andrew to Norfolk, meaning it’s more than likely Andrew (and Fergie?) will live at Wood Farm, on the Sandringham Estate. That’s privately owned by Charles, so Charles will fund Andrew’s life/home there.
Incidentally, a few hours ago, Tom Sykes reported exclusively on his Royalist Substack that “the only way Prince Andrew will leave Royal Lodge is if he’s paid ‘fairly,’ in the region of ‘a couple of million.’” It will be interesting to see if anything comes out about this in the coming hours and days, because it’s been perfectly clear (to me) that Andrew would willingly give up a lot if Charles simply paid him off. I could see an off-the-books quid pro quo happening here – Charles gets to look big and tough and like he hasn’t spent the entire month dithering endlessly, and Andrew Mountbatten Windsor walks away with a seven-figure or even eight-figure settlement from the Duchy of Lancaster funds.
Photos courtesy of Instar, Cover Images.
