Prince Andrew scores victory over King Charles in Royal Lodge battle: report
King Charles III has given up on trying to evict the disgraced Duke of York from his palatial Royal Lodge home, the U.K.'s Express reported. According to the outlet, the monarch's younger sibling "has won the row" and will be staying put despite efforts to relocate him to a smaller property.
Buckingham Palace previously told Fox News Digital that they don't answer for Andrew, 65, as he's no longer a working royal.
British royals expert Hilary Fordwich told Fox News Digital she's not entirely convinced that Andrew is out of the woods.
"This is a limited pyrrhic win, as he's certainly not reclaiming any stature either in public or within his own family," she explained. "His remaining in Royal Lodge is merely due to his legal rights derived from the original binding 75-year lease agreement from 2003 with the Crown Estate rather than anything favorable to Andrew's redemption."
Fordwich pointed out that Royal Lodge requires "immense annual upkeep" that reportedly costs several million dollars a year. Andrew stepped back as a senior royal following his controversial friendship with late American financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Working or not, Andrew will need to find a way to foot the bill.
"Public scrutiny of royal spending is intense," said Fordwich. "It will further destroy his relationship with both his family and the public as he is an entitled embarrassment to both."
"In 2028, this issue may well be revisited," Fordwich warned. "The Crown Estate will then have new grounds to review or revoke the lease due to property maintenance disputes. In the interim, he must fund the estate's costly repairs, all of its upkeep and his security."
The U.K.'s Daily Mail previously reported that Andrew had been tending to the gardens of Royal Lodge to pinch pennies. The 30-room mansion is reportedly surrounded by shrubbery and woodland. Other reports claimed that the king, 76, ordered precious artifacts to be removed from Andrew's home, due to maintenance and security concerns.
Us Weekly also reported that the sprawling 19th-century property is faced with dampness issues, as well as "wear and tear" that is ravaging the building. It noted that "cracks are becoming worse on the brickwork," and there is peeling paint, along with plaster falling off.
These days, the Express reported that Andrew has been "all smiles" knowing that he could officially stay.
"It is undoubtedly the case that King Charles would have wished him to downsize," royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told Fox News Digital. "But, he has a 75-year lease and, so long as he fulfilled its provisions, he could not be evicted."
Royal expert Ian Pelham Turner told Fox News Digital that Andrew will still need to prove that he can find a way to manage the costly repairs that Royal Lodge requires.
"Andrew has to ensure that the Royal Lodge is being preserved from a current state of near collapse," Turner claimed, adding that this "will be looked at very closely."
Andrew has lived at Royal Lodge since 2004. He currently resides there with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.
According to reports, he has spent over $9 million on repairs and renovations over the years and $1 million to take it over. His annual rent is a reported $337,000. But despite Charles's concerns, reports claimed that Andrew presented his brother with a lease document which confirmed that he was legally entitled to stay at Royal Lodge.
The Sunday Times reported that the king did not renew the contract for Andrew's private security team. The monarch had been paying for Andrew's security after the prince lost his police protection in 2022. The security team is said to cost the king nearly $4 million annually.
At the time, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told Fox News Digital that the palace would not comment on "security matters."
While Andrew will remain at Royal Lodge, Fordwich stressed that this doesn't mean he'll return to public life.
"The only time he's been seen at any family functions publicly was earlier this year in Windsor at Easter Sunday services and the Garter Day lunch," she said. "He was conspicuously absent this year from [everything else]."
"Regarding his finances, his family continues to be concerned as to where, in desperation for new income sources, he is securing funding," Fordwich claimed. "In the past, his ill-judged business associations haven't exactly been proper, reflecting poorly upon the monarchy."
Charles and Andrew were said to be feuding over Royal Lodge, which is located on the grounds of Windsor Castle, since 2019. While Charles urged Andrew to downsize and move to the smaller Frogmore Cottage, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's former U.K. home, the prince successfully dug his heels in.
Charlotte Griffiths, the Mail on Sunday's editor-at-large, reported in November that the monarch was unexpectedly extending a generous olive branch to his brother and paying his rent. It's believed that's what their late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, would have wanted. For years, it has been said that Andrew was her favorite son.
The king was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February of last year.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of "My Mother and I," agreed with Griffiths' scoop.
WATCH: KING CHARLES SECRETLY PAYING PRINCE ANDREW'S RENT, AUTHOR CLAIMS
"There's absolutely no doubt that Charles is the one who is providing the money for Andrew, because the [late] queen wouldn't have left Andrew bereft," Seward previously explained to Fox News Digital.
"She would've made a provision for him, and maybe that provision came through his elder brother as monarch," she shared. "When the king dies or the queen dies, the money goes to the next monarch. Everything goes to the next monarch. So, she either would have made provisions for Andrew before she died, or she would've made provisions through Charles."
"I believe that Charles is helping him," Seward continued. "I don't see who else would. I'm sure [Andrew's ex-wife] Fergie would help him. I know Fergie does very well with her books, but I [can't] imagine she would make enough to run Royal Lodge on her own."
"I certainly think that the only person who could really be doing this is either monies from the queen or monies from the king," she said.
Griffiths also claimed that someone at a "glamorous – and usually ultra-discreet – dinner table" told her that "Charles has paid for it all."
"The king has cleared it. It's all done," the source claimed.
The palace insider, "who's been a guest at Royal Lodge in years gone by," claimed that not only did Charles handle the finances, but none of the funds came from taxpayer money.
The Sunday Times previously reported that Andrew had raised enough money to stay in Royal Lodge. According to the outlet, the prince's funds were approved by the Keeper of the Privy Purse as coming from "legitimate sources." Andrew's only known steady income source is a Royal Navy pension.
"The Duke of York, or Prince Andrew as we like to call him, always lived in a palace," said Seward. "He lived in Buckingham Palace, and then his home was Royal Lodge, which is a very grand home – and he doesn't want to leave it."
"I think King Charles... said to him, 'Andrew, it would be so much better if you moved out of Royal Lodge and moved into Frogmore Cottage... because it's been modernized inside. It's been beautifully done up. It's easy to run. It's not expensive to run. And you're within the security of the Windsor Castle compound, so it's not going to cost millions in security.' But Andrew said, 'No, I want to stay here.'"
Seward stressed that rigorous upkeep – and plenty of funds – are required to keep the royal property in tip-top shape.
"It's not just a little house in the middle of nowhere," said Seward. "It is huge and therefore needs a lot of upkeep. But I think that there's no way he and Charles would've had a row about it, because Charles isn't like that."
"He wouldn't have said, 'You've got to get out,'" Seward insisted. "He would've suggested why it would be easier to get out. And Andrew said, 'No, I want to stay.' So, Charles said, 'Fine, but I'm going to have to remove this very expensive security, and we'll need to find an alternative.'"
"The Crown Estate would've loved to get Andrew out of Royal Lodge, because they could rent the whole thing," said Seward. "It needs to be seen as making money. And as long as Andrew lives in Royal Lodge, that's preventing them from making as much as they could. It's just too bad that he is the late queen's second son."
"[But] I don't think the future holds anything for Prince Andrew," Seward added.
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