Exclusive:Prince Andrew Plans to Stay at Royal Lodge—and Leave It to His Kids

Friends of Prince Andrew have urged King Charles to drop his “cruel” campaign to force Andrew to vacate his home, Royal Lodge, and reiterated that he has every intention of continuing to live in the vast property—and of leaving it to his children.

The friends have also accused the Palace of having learned nothing from the acrimonious departure of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry from royal life, and of carrying out the same kind of anonymous briefings against Andrew that the Sussexes have complained were conducted against them. One friend argued that the efforts to kick Andrew out of the palatial home, which was previously the residence of Andrew’s famously extravagant grandmother, the Queen Mother, were counterproductive as they had forced the issue of Andrew’s living arrangements back into the public eye when they would otherwise be largely forgotten.

The pushback came days after an extensive report in the London Times detailed how the king was renewing his efforts to kick Andrew out, threatening him with being cut off financially if he did not comply.

According to the paper, Palace insiders have dubbed the affair the Siege of Royal Lodge.

The author and historian Andrew Lownie, who is working on a new biography of Andrew, told The Daily Beast: “It’s very clear that Charles is now completely fed up with him and would very much like him to move to Frogmore Cottage, but it all still comes down to the fact that Andrew has the lease. That means there is not much anyone can do. There is evidence that work is going on there, and sure, some of it should have been started last year, but that is hardly going to be grounds to evict him.

“He has plenty of money. He sold his Swiss chalet, he continues to go out to the Middle East for work, and he inherited money from his grandmother. Sarah Ferguson bought a £5m ($6.4m) property in Mayfair in 2022.

“The whole dispute really stems from the fact that that the brothers have never got on, and the households don’t get on either. No-one is coming out of this very well, but if Charles is really serious about getting rid of him, he should stop paying for his security—but the problem there is that Andrew is the one royal who perhaps needs it more than any other.”

Representatives for Andrew and the king did not return requests for comment.