Two Fridays ago, Prince Andrew released his arrogant statement about how he decided to relinquish his ducal title and his royal honors. Folded within the big title announcement was a curious confirmation that Andrew’s daughters’ titles would be unchanged and untouched, and that Andrew would still reside in Royal Lodge. As in, this was a deal struck between Andrew and King Charles, and the courtiers clearly signed off on the deal where Andrew could continue to live in an enormous mansion for the rest of his days. That deal blew up over the course of the following 72 hours, and now Charles is clearly trying to negotiate Andrew’s exit from Royal Lodge. The problem? Andrew’s negotiating position is surprisingly strong, and Charles is famously a weak man and a ditherer who refuses to make the big calls in a timely manner. All of which means that we’re now being told that Andrew is “demanding” two homes in exchange for Royal Lodge: Frogmore Cottage for himself and Adelaide Cottage for Sarah Ferguson. Well, Tom Sykes had some tea about what’s happening behind-the-scenes.
Andrew’s demand for two homes: Prince William’s friends told the Royalist that William was resisting the duke’s demands, but King Charles is said to be considering the option, which would be greeted by public outrage. Prince Andrew’s camp have, however, leaked suggestions that giving Andrew two houses—one for him and one for Sarah Ferguson—was the king’s idea. It’s a clear sign, were any needed, of the chaos at the heart of King Charles’ court, where discipline has completely broken down as courtiers, family members and aides have taken advantage of the weak and ailing king’s lack of control to push their own agendas.
Does Charles want Royal Lodge for Camilla? King Charles has been trying to push Andrew out of the gigantic Royal Lodge for over a year, with speculation that he wants the property as a dower house for his wife Camilla after his death. The precedent is there as it was formerly the dower house of the late Queen Mother after the death of her husband, King George VI. Charles has been humiliated by his abject failure to eject Andrew from the property, and earlier this year accepted that he had lost the battle.
Palace mismanagement: Incredibly, in a sign of the shambolic mismanagement at the heart of the king’s operation, just ten days ago, when Andrew renounced the use of his title, the king’s office issued guidance saying Andrew would not be leaving the grand property. Charles’ team’s spectacular mismanagement of the entire Andrew affair has incurred the wrath of Prince William, who, in a bold demonstration of his growing power as his father lives with incurable cancer, coordinated the moves to get Andrew to renounce his title, something Charles’ team had long said was impossible, impractical and pointless.
William was in despair with his father’s deal with Andrew, in which Andrew kept RL: One source today told the Royalist that William was left in despair when he laid his eyes on the media briefing notes issued by the palace a week ago last Friday which said Andrew would be staying on at Royal Lodge.
William doesn’t care about the “neighboring estates” issue: Some reports have said the proximity between Royal Lodge and Forest Lodge is a concern for William but in fact the properties are a few miles apart, and my sources say William couldn’t care less about that issue.
Was the “two homes” scheme something suggested by the palace? A source described as being “close to Ferguson” told the London Times that neither she nor her ex-husband had demanded two properties, but said the arrangement was one of the options suggested by Buckingham Palace in the past.
Just FYI to anyone, and I won’t say who: it’s completely contradictory to argue that William is the one masterminding Andrew’s punishments AND William is merely reading memos from the palace and quietly burning with rage. If William is indeed “in charge” and acting as the de facto regent, then surely he wouldn’t have found out about the Royal Lodge deal via a memo. William claimed to be part of the negotiations, remember? It’s far more likely that William is simply being copied on the generalities of the negotiations between Charles and Andrew, and William skims those memos while he’s on vacation yet again. It’s far more likely that William and his courtiers can’t keep their stories straight about what “ruthless” William is doing and saying anymore because he’s simply not doing anything at all. Again, he’s been on vacation for the past ten days.
As for Sykes’ tea about “giving Andrew and Fergie two homes was Charles’s idea in the first place,” I actually sort of believe that. I believe that Charles has offered Andrew pretty much anything to stop this PR bleed. Not only that, I think Buckingham Palace released the information about “Andrew is demanding two homes” as a trial balloon, to see how the public and press would react.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
