Prince Andrew, Duke of York News and Events 8: Sep 2022 -

[hereditarytitles]

I never understood the problem with that house.
The architecture was widely criticized, but surely Andrew and Fergie approved those plans before the building began? So why the disdain afterwards?

As for a new residence, what does Andrew do besides riding? Plays golf, and I assume still has his clubs, so really, just about any (other) royal residence would do.

I believe it is stubbornness and status consciousness. He might think "I am important also and I deserve to live in the Royal Lodge"

 

[Somebody]

And he paid a lease for 75 years...

 

[hereditarytitles]

And he paid a lease for 75 years...

True, but there are requirements , keeping the building in good shape which must be very expensive and can only be achieved if you have adequate funds. There were pictures in some British papers showing that Royal Lodge does need lots of repairs and so far Andrew hasn't been able to do what is needed.

 

[muriel]

One of the headlines above state that if Andrew leaves Royal Lodge the Crown Estate can ask for a million pounds a year in rent or lease arrangements for the property. That’s not small change. If it could be considered worthwhile to deeply upset a sibling in order to get it is debatable though.

If Andrew leaves Royal Lodge, he can probably sell the lease back to the Crown Estate, he still has 55 years (of the 75) remaining. There is plenty in value in that. He spent £7.5mn refurbishing the property when he took it over. I suspect he will get a tidy some for it.

 

[Alison H]

It's a "repairing lease". He's supposed to pay for maintenance costing about £400,000 per year. But he doesn't.

 

[tommy100]

I'm not sure the "disrepair" isn't being slightly blown out of proportion by the media - I mean even the DM and their well known ability to over dramatise couldn't make the pictures they took of the exterior look all that bad - and many of the pictures were of the gate houses not the main house. Those of the main house included scaffolding suggesting that repairs and painting to the exterior were happening.

Either way, its clear Andrew's days are numbered - unless he wins the lottery sometime soon.

 

[Kataryn]

I somehow think king Charles, ever since knowing he has cancer, thinks about his wife in case he dies. Maybe he wants to set her up like the late queen Mom: Clarence House and the Royal Lodge for the then Queen Dowager Camilla. And I believe this looks more nicely to him that prince Andrew and Sarah living there. Andrew moving to Frogmore Cottage and / Or Wood Farm would be fitting for a non-working Royal. I mean; where do the brothers of the dukes of Westminster or others live? In something of the Royal lodge? Or take the Swedish Royals: Victoria lives in the Haga Palace, Carl Philipp in just a (nice!) villa. They are the second (Male) sons of the monarch and that doesn't give them any more comforts that they can afford to have. I read in an orbituary lately that the dead's mother was a "Hennessy and that gave her always a wing in the Grand House or a smaller house in the grounds of the estate" to live (Orbituary of Sir George Bell in the Times) and if that's how it is in the circle of rich nobility, why should it be any different in the monarchy. IMHO, of course.

 

[Queen Claude]

George V "gifted" the Royal Lodge to George VI when he was the Duke of York and not expected to ascend the throne. I get that sensibilities have changed and maybe to some it is not a good look that royals live in vast properties that are part of the crown estate. But at the same time these deals were made when sensibilities were different and IMO I am fine with allowing the deals that were made stand and then make different choices for future dispositions.

Charles very well could be eyeing the Royal Lodge for Camilla but that makes no sense to me. If the Royal Lodge is too much house and property for Andrew and Sarah, as some have asserted, then it is certainly too much house for Camilla. In the case of Andrew and Sarah, they have lived there for years, raised their children there, and while their daughters have left the nest, it seems like they still spend time their with their spouses and children. Don't get me wrong, if circumstances necessitate that Andrew and Sarah leave the Royal Lodge and his daughters and their families experience grief and disappointment, that is a champagne problem, but the Yorks are the royals with the closest ties to the property.

If Camilla outlives Charles, she would probably still remain in Clarence House and Birkhall will probably be at her disposal, and perhaps even something on the Sandringham estate. She has her own home Ray Mill. To my knowledge Charles and Camilla have no strong affinity to Windsor, I can see Windsor being attractive because of its proximity to London, so having a property where someone can escape London but still be convenient to London is appealing. If that is desired for Camilla, then an apartment in the castle should suffice or Frogmore Cottage. Also the aforementioned change in sensibilities would apply to Camilla too, and if I am correct in my speculation about what properties widowed Camilla may have at her disposal, she may not be that far off from what QEQM had at her disposal, and QEQM was known having a high standard of living that was more akin to the 19th / early 20th century Edwardian era, rather than the more pared back late 20th century.

 

[hereditarytitles]

George V "gifted" the Royal Lodge to George VI when he was the Duke of York and not expected to ascend the throne. I get that sensibilities have changed and maybe to some it is not a good look that royals live in vast properties that are part of the crown estate. But at the same time these deals were made when sensibilities were different and IMO I am fine with allowing the deals that were made stand and then make different choices for future dispositions.

Charles very well could be eyeing the Royal Lodge for Camilla but that makes no sense to me. If the Royal Lodge is too much house and property for Andrew and Sarah, as some have asserted, then it is certainly too much house for Camilla. In the case of Andrew and Sarah, they have lived there for years, raised their children there, and while their daughters have left the nest, it seems like they still spend time their with their spouses and children. Don't get me wrong, if circumstances necessitate that Andrew and Sarah leave the Royal Lodge and his daughters and their families experience grief and disappointment, that is a champagne problem, but the Yorks are the royals with the closest ties to the property.

If Camilla outlives Charles, she would probably still remain in Clarence House and Birkhall will probably be at her disposal, and perhaps even something on the Sandringham estate. She has her own home Ray Mill. To my knowledge Charles and Camilla have no strong affinity to Windsor, I can see Windsor being attractive because of its proximity to London, so having a property where someone can escape London but still be convenient to London is appealing. If that is desired for Camilla, then an apartment in the castle should suffice or Frogmore Cottage. Also the aforementioned change in sensibilities would apply to Camilla too, and if I am correct in my speculation about what properties widowed Camilla may have at her disposal, she may not be that far off from what QEQM had at her disposal, and QEQM was known having a high standard of living that was more akin to the 19th / early 20th century Edwardian era, rather than the more pared back late 20th century.

I completely agree to you comment. From all I have heard and seen of Camilla, her being a very down to earth and sensible woman, I would think she would retire to Ray Mill House which I have often read about has been her favourite retreat for decades, maybe keep a place in Clarence House or Scotland, but for everyday living, and let's not forget she is 77 years old, she might prefer Ray Mill.
As you have stated that standard of living of the last centuries for the BRF isn't the same anymore, and Charles is conscious of that. In a modern monarchy you still have a lot of perks and wealth but you have to be more careful about showing it off, when the rest of the country (formerly "the peasants") is facing manyfold problems with poverty, housing, health care , migration and more.

 

[muriel]

I am not sure Royal Lodge is what a widowed Queen Camilla might be looking for. I think she will quietly retreat to a private life, showing up for a few state events like the Trooping and Remembrance Sunday, but little else.

My sense is that she would primarily divide her time between Ray Mill and Birkhall. If she feels she needs a London base, she may keep Clarence House, though I have my doubts.

The issue around Royal Lodge for Andrew is twofold, IMO. Firstly, as it is outside the Windsor secure perimeter (and Frogmore Cottage is within the secure perimeter), it costs quite a lot to secure. These are costs that Charles currently bears. Secondly is the issue of optics. A somewhat disgraced former working royal knocking around in a large Crown Estate property, despite him having paid for it at an arms length price.

 

[iceflower]

The Duke of York was pictured riding at Windsor yesterday, September 18:


** rex gallery **

 

[GondorHasNoPants]

The Daily Mail is reporting that Charles has 'cut off Andrew's cash', by terminating his seven-figure annual personal allowance. The claims are made in Robert Hardman's updated biography of the King, which the DM is serialising.

Charles finally cuts off Andrew's cash

Prince Andrew has now officially been financially cut off by the King, marking a new low in their relations. 'The Duke is no longer a financial burden on the King,' confirms a source.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Tatiana Maria]

The Daily Mail is reporting that Charles has 'cut off Andrew's cash', by terminating his seven-figure annual personal allowance. The claims are made in Robert Hardman's updated biography of the King, which the DM is serialising.

Charles finally cuts off Andrew's cash

Prince Andrew has now officially been financially cut off by the King, marking a new low in their relations. 'The Duke is no longer a financial burden on the King,' confirms a source.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Thank you! The excerpt on the Duke of York from the new chapters of Mr. Hardman's book can be read at this link:

Truth about Charles, Harry and Meghan in bombshell new book

Less than a year and a half into the reign of Charles III, the monarchy had to come to terms with two grave personal challenges.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Quoting from the excerpt:

'Had she lived another year, he would have been out [of Royal Lodge],' says a former adviser to Elizabeth II firmly.

'It was her plan to move him out, to end the lease for the Sussexes at Frogmore Cottage and to move Andrew in there. It was mainly a money thing, as she could see it was becoming unsustainable.'

[...]

'No one felt guilty about taking over his office because he and his people had become bullies by the end. They would tell the security people that no one needed clearance to come in if they were 'a personal friend' of the Duke,' says one [member of Elizabeth II's staff]. 'That is how he got Newsnight in there without people knowing. He'd told us he wasn't doing a TV interview and then said he wouldn't do one during an election. Then he did both.'

[...]

In the late summer of this year [2024], that [King Charles III's] patience ran out. The Duke informed the monarch that, regardless of any ultimatum, he was going to stay put at Royal Lodge anyway. At which point, the Keeper of the Privy Purse (the monarchy's finance director) was instructed to sever his living allowance.

'The Duke is no longer a financial burden on the King,' confirms one familiar with the situation. 'He claims to have found other sources of income related to his contacts in international trade, sufficient to cover all his costs – which would be a welcome outcome for all parties if that turns out to be the case. But as to whether this funding can be relied upon in the long term is another matter.'

[...]

And what if the money then runs out?

'Let's just say that if that moment comes, and the Duke needs to call on the King's resources once more, the range of options available to him may be more limited and rather less appealing,' says one insider drily.

'This was never about 'punishing' the Duke for past misdeeds, or freeing up the property for another member of the family,' insists the source. 'It was about his long-term welfare and security – and that of the house. Alas, that advice has gone unheeded, which is frustrating for all those nearest and dearest to him.'

The Duke's lack of common sense comes as no surprise to veterans of life in the Royal Household. They point to an incident in 2016 when, upon his return to Royal Lodge after an outing, the electric sensors on one of the gates failed to work.

Rather than make a five-minute detour to another entrance, he simply rammed the gate with his Range Rover, causing considerable damage to both the gate and the £80,000 car. 'It could have been easier to understand if he'd been drunk,' said one Palace staffer at the time. 'But he is teetotal.'​

I wonder what the Duke's alleged "other sources of income related to his contacts in international trade, sufficient to cover all his costs" are, and whether they might be problematic in the eyes of the public.

Was the 2016 gate-ramming incident reported on at the time?

The sources who briefed Mr. Hardman on behalf of the King are, by the standards of the palace briefings, harsh in tone.

 

[Mirabel]

I'm surprised that Charles waited this long to cut off the cash flow.
He was never going to indulge Andrew the way the Queen did.

Anyway, it's not like Charles is about to throw Andrew into the street! He'll simply be given a smaller, easier to maintain residence.

 

[Tatiana Maria]

I believe this is the first time an insider has claimed that Queen Elizabeth II also wanted the Duke of York to relocate from Royal Lodge, isn't it?

 

[Toledo]

I have the feeling five years from now we will still be waiting for Andrew to leave the Royal Lodge. They seriously need to stop making extended leases to the royals and the king should have a clause if you start trouble or embarrass The Firm start packing.