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King Charles and his younger brother Prince Andrew have been embroiled in a months-long stalemate over the tenancy of the 30-room Royal Lodge on the Windsor Park estate.
Last year, it emerged that the Duke of York, 64, was struggling to meet the £400,000-a-year upkeep costs of the £30million property. The King has reportedly been eager to end his private funding for security on the estate and move Andrew into smaller lodgings.
However, Andrew signed a 75-year lease on the property in 2003, which means his brother has no legal grounds to evict him. This impasse has led Royal experts to suggest that a family member might help “make Andrew see sense”.
On the Palace Confidential podcast, The Mail on Sunday’s Royal Correspondent Natasha Livingstone said: “Prince Andrew has been living in the Royal Lodge for about 20 years the term ‘Lodge’ is slightly misleading because it’s actually 30 bedrooms. [sic]
“The problem is that because he’s not a working royal any more, the public aren’t funding him. But Andrew has his name on the lease for the Lodge, and tied up with that is that he has responsibilities to maintain it.”
Natasha explains that just the regular painting of the Lodge’s exterior is a costly task, and there’s some disagreement over who should foot the bill.
In a surprising twist, Charlotte Griffiths from the Mail on Sunday hints at an unexpected peacemaker amid Royal tensions. Residing in the same Royal Lodge, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York and former wife of Prince Andrew, might play a crucial role in bridging the rift between the feuding brothers.
Charlotte suggests that the obvious stance for Fergie and her daughters would be to side with ‘Team Andrew’ amidst any Royal skirmishes.
She said: “It’s in their interest for him to keep this very grand house because first of all Fergie lives there and second of all there are some reports that the girls might actually inherit it one day, or inherit their lease over it so they might sort of want it want to keep it in the York family.”
However, she underscores that the Duchess could possess the sway needed to nudge Andrew towards conciliation. Expounding further, Charlotte states: “She’s actually got this relationship with Charles now that’s getting better and better and stronger and stronger, so she could be a bit of a mediator.”
Yet the real hurdle, as Charlotte identifies, OK! reports, is the sheer obstinance of the parties involved: “these are two of the stubbornest men in England and they’re used to getting their own way.”
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