Andrew will head into exile at King Charles’ private and remote Sandringham estate
King III. Charles’ disgraced younger brother Andrew Mountbatten Windsor is going into internal exile, which will allow him to hide further from the obviously angry British public.
His expulsion from the 30-room Royal Lodge on the grounds of Windsor Castle to one of the king’s private estates at Sandringham in the east of England will symbolize the fall of the one-time prince and duke.
Although he may have lost the advantages of title and status, Andrew, 65, won’t take it lightly.
But it is still an exile that has seen Andrew come under increasing scrutiny in both the UK and the US for his friendship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Andrew denies allegations of inappropriate behavior during his long friendship with Epstein, including from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claims she had sex with the former prince when she was 17.
After years of scandals surrounding Andrew, Charles took arguably the biggest step of his reign on Thursday by trying to insulate the monarchy from any exposure arising from its links to Epstein, who took his own life in prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges more than a decade after Andrew’s first conviction.
Andrew’s release will not come quickly
Andrew has been informed that his time at the Royal Lodge estate near Windsor Castle, where he has lived for more than 20 years, will be coming to an end. In 2003, he signed a 75-year lease with the Crown Estate, a portfolio of properties nominally owned but not controlled by the monarch.
He invested the necessary £7.5 million ($9.9 million) to renovate the house and now lives there in exchange for a yearly sum of black pepper; This is a symbolic number often used to meet the legal requirements of real estate transactions.
His movement will not happen overnight. As everyone knows, moving house is an ordeal at the best of times, regardless of the size of the property. It will certainly take Andrew, and anyone who can help him, quite a bit of time to go through his belongings and decide what to keep, donate to charity, or throw away.
There’s also the small matter of sharing his assets with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who has lived with Andrew at the Royal Lodge since 2008 but will not be moving to Sandringham at Charles’ expense.
With Christmas approaching, time and effort for a royal trying to isolate Andrew isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The last thing the 76-year-old monarch and his son, heir to the throne, Prince William, want is for members of the royal family to attend St. Mary’s House at Sandringham Estate on Christmas Day, where members of the royal family will be treated to a lavish banquet at Sandringham House, the king’s main residence, and its 100 or so rooms. Andrew will be within shouting distance during his trip to the church of Mary Magdalene.
Andrew’s new house was much loved by the monarchs
So the expectation is that once all the festivities are over, Andrew will move into his new home in one of the least populated parts of the UK.
Sandringham Manor is not an official royal residence, which means it is not owned by the state; It is a fact that Charles will hope to keep the public anger in check. Charles will finance Andrew’s move and provide his brother with an annual salary from his own private resources. In fact, Andrew will not be living out his old years at the expense of British taxpayers.
Sandringham, the private home of the last six British monarchs, is located amid parkland, gardens and working farms about 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of London. It has been owned by the royal family since 1862, passing directly from one monarch to another for more than 160 years.
It is recorded as “Sant Dersingham” or the sandy part of Dersingham in the Domesday Book, the land survey of England compiled by William the Conqueror in 1086. This was shortened to Sandringham in later years.
Queen Victoria bought Sandringham for her eldest son Edward in 1862; largely in the hope that being a country gentleman would keep the playboy prince out of trouble in the nightclubs of London, Paris, Monte Carlo and Biarritz. The future Edward VII transformed the estate into a modern rural retreat to be passed down from one generation to the next.
Since then, rulers have inherited it and loved it. Charles was a fan of a young boy who attended shooting parties in the 1950s; One photo captured him sitting on horseback, blowing a miniature hunting trumpet.
Elections, elections
Andrew’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II. There is growing speculation that Elizabeth will not be moving to Wood Farm, on the estate preferred by her father, Prince Philip, who prefers his comfortable surroundings to the stately main residence.
But there are also a number of other properties, including Park House, the birthplace and childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales. The late princess continued to live here until her grandfather’s death in 1975.
York Cottage is another possibility. This is where Andrew’s great-grandfather, King George V, lived before becoming monarch in 1910.
The cottage, which is not a country house in the traditional sense as it has multiple bedrooms and a lake nearby, was reportedly earmarked for William’s brother Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle before they decided to give up their royal life and go and live in the United States.
Often used as holiday accommodation, York Cottage may have a problem. After all, it shares the name of the duchy held by Andrew; a constant reminder of what’s going on.
Another option for Andrew would be Gardens House, which was once the home of the estate’s head gardener. According to Sandringham’s website, it has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and is used as a holiday home.
Folly, a hunting lodge and a place for women to have afternoon tea, would certainly see Andrew seriously downsized. It only has three bedrooms, but as a single man, does he really need more?
