When the King first tried to oust Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from his Windsor home, it began a two-year battle described by one source as “the siege of Royal Lodge”.
On Monday night, after a two-year stand-off between the brothers — not to mention a few carefully timed trebuchets thrown by palace courtiers — the duke finally left his £30 million, 31-room mansion.
Andrew, 65, was driven to Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, where he will stay while his more permanent home, the nearby Marsh Farm, is prepared.
It is understood that Andrew needed “encouragement” to speed up his departure even after the publication of a picture showing him on all fours towering over a woman in what appeared to be Jeffrey Epstein’s New York townhouse.
As courtiers plotted his exit, Andrew was seen out horse riding on the Windsor estate and driving through the property while he waved and smiled at passersby.
A royal source said: “That he was seen out having a lovely ride, literally on his high horse and smiling and waving behind the wheel, over the weekend while all these damaging reports were dropping was — well, you might imagine what senior courtiers made of it all. Dismay would be a considerable understatement.
“I wouldn’t say that was the final straw, but perhaps he finally saw sense and the events of the last few days have thus accelerated the pace of a process that was already well underway, albeit with the renewed and redoubled encouragement of the palace.”
Andrew on his ‘high horse’
TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS
On Tuesday, a fleet of white vans and lorries were seen departing Royal Lodge, which is now at the centre of a new claim made by a second woman who alleges that she had sex with Andrew at the residence.
• Russian woman ‘linked with Andrew described amazing night’
It is also where Epstein was invited to lunch, days after Andrew’s meeting in New York to “break off” the friendship with the sex offender.
Priceless artefacts have already been removed by the Royal Collection and placed in storage. Asked whether Sarah Ferguson, Andrew’s former wife, was still living at Royal Lodge her spokesman said: “No comment.”
It is not known whether their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, are still in contact with their parents after revelations that Epstein bought the princesses and their mother tickets to fly to see him shortly after his release from prison.
A removal van leaves Royal Lodge on Wednesday
PETER NICHOLLS/GETTY IMAGES
Andrew is under pressure from the prime minister, among others, to voluntarily testify to the US Congress. A royal source has said that it would be “a matter for his conscience”.
Andrew has always vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Whether his lawyers will allow him to testify, however, is another matter. Given the contradictions between Andrew’s protestations in his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview and his apparent correspondence in the Epstein files, it seems likely that they will want to avoid any risk that he could perjure himself in court.
Andrew has not had a warm reception from his new neighbours, who have not welcomed the media attention his arrival has brought to the area. A usually quiet lane by St Peter church in the village of Wolferton has been full of parked cars, and a broadcast helicopter has hovered overhead.
It is understood that Andrew’s new home, Marsh Farm, is not yet ready but the palace hopes the work will be completed by Easter.
A local woman, who asked not to be named, said: “I think if he has to come and live here, it should be somewhere that’s quite secluded. There are houses that belong to the King that he could go to that wouldn’t cause anybody any bother. The press are all down there. The villagers don’t like that. It’s a quiet village.”
She added that a house that was “out in the woods that’s surrounded by trees and no other houses … would have been better”.
Press are reporting from the quiet village where Andrew now lives
TOBY SHEPHEARD/REUTERS
About two miles away, at the Sandringham visitor centre, Abraham Bruin, 83, from West Walton, who used to work in plant nurseries, was visiting on Wednesday. He said: “I’m a little bit flabbergasted myself. If he’s an outcast and living on the estate, he’s not an outcast, is he?”
A woman who asked not to be named said: “He’s going back to luxury, isn’t he? He’s being waited on hand and foot.” In reality, Andrew’s new status is far reduced from his previous lifestyle.
A residual team of staff have been left behind at Royal Lodge, many of them advised to find new jobs. Only the lawyers’ jobs, it seems, are safe for now.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was approached for comment.