King Charles will sonner find that it’s easier to lead a mule to water than to make Prince Andrew vacate his beloved Royal Lodge. Disgraced or no, financially stable or no, Prince Andrew is staying, and King Charles is reportedly running out of options as to how to make him move.
His first option, of course, was to offer Andrew a new dwelling place, and for that he had to kick out his younger son Prince Harry and his wife from their quaint Frogmore Cottage.
Royal Expert Reveals There’s A “Rumbling Dispute” Over Royal Lodge
It’s been five years since Andrew was forced to step down from his position as a working member of the Royal Family and mostly go underground. Let’s not recount what forced him to do so – I’m sure it’s a series of episodes in his life he’d likely want to forget.
The thing is he’s no longer a working royal, and that means he’s no longer getting his hands on the Royal Grant.
If he’s not getting his hands on the Royal Grant, one would wonder why he continues to hang onto a home that £5 million a year for its upkeep.
And, hear me out: he lives there with his wife Sarah Ferguson, and judging from the fact that Sarah sold a house the Queen gifted her following her divorce from Andrew because she couldn’t afford its maintenance, one would wonder why they’re hanging onto Royal Lodge like it’s dear life.
Anyway, the main worry is that they’re letting the impressive estate fall into disrepair.
According to The Daily Mail’s Ephraim Hardcastle, Andrew is perfectly capable of taking care of the interiors. The exteriors is where the huge debate comes in.
“It appears that Andrew, who paid upwards of £7.5 million ($A15.5 million) on renovations when given a 75-year lease in 2003, has maintained the interior but there is a rumbling dispute about who is responsible for extensive external repairs to the 30-room mansion,” Mr Hardcastle wrote in his column.
“Andrew should be safe until 2028. He is entitled to a partial rebate on his outgoings if given the order of the boot at the end of his first 25 years of his lease.”
Mind you, 2028 isn’t exactly the year Andrew is required to vacate the property where he raised his daughters, he actually has a “cast-iron lease” that lasts until 2078.
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