Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor reportedly has a new woman in his life despite his spectacular fall from grace following the release of the Epstein files in February.
The 66-year-old former Duke of York was stripped of his royal titles and forced out of his longtime home, Royal Lodge, after the files exposed the extent of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He has since been living at Marsh Farm on King Charles III’s private Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
However, according to award-winning journalist Paula Froelich, Andrew hasn’t exactly been leading a solitary existence in his new surroundings.
“He’s been seeing a (local) woman in Norfolk,” an insider told Froelich.
“It’s very convenient (for him),” a second source shared.
The former prince, who was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and remains under investigation by Thames Valley Police, has denied any wrongdoing.
And despite his extraordinary fall from royal life, biographer Andrew Lownie claims Andrew’s confidence has apparently remained intact.
“He’s still doing business in the way he did before – he still thinks he’s a hotshot businessman,” Lownie told Froelich on her YouTube channel.
“He’s been staying with people – the papers have actually covered him going to Brittany (France).
“I’d heard that he’d gone to the south of France and was actually looking to buy property there – which doesn’t suggest that he’s worried about going to prison.
“There are stories of him going to Switzerland, even going to the Middle East.”
Andrew was spotted in the south of France near Cannes and Nice with two women in August, with Froelich speculating that “one was his ladyfriend”.
Lownie also claimed Andrew has been “smuggled out” of Marsh Farm to make discreet visits to his royal siblings at their homes – and potentially to spend time with his reported new girlfriend.
The claims come as Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah ‘Fergie’ Ferguson, has quietly returned to the UK after reportedly spending months overseas.
According to Lownie, the 66-year-old former Duchess of York is now living alone in a six-bedroom property costing £10,000 a month (about AUD$20,000) in rent.
“I think she’s saved some money – she had various Swiss bank accounts and money offshore, and my understanding is that she has a benefactor from the Middle East who’s paying for her at the moment because clearly she’s paying £10,000 a month for a six-bedroom house just living there on her own,” Lownie said.
“So she hasn’t learned any lessons about extravagance since Prince Andrew’s been defrocked.”
The historian also questioned the timing of Ferguson’s return, drawing parallels with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who last week returned to live in the UK for an “extended period of time” following six years in the US.
“And why is she back now? Why the week of the Sussexes, do they come as a pair? I think she’s back, like the Sussexes, because she’s got nowhere else to go, and she’s itching to get her feet back underneath the table and work on poor old King Charles before the ‘horrible’ King William comes to power, and just see what she can rustle up.”
Ferguson has been widely reported to have spent time with her youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie, at her home in Portugal following the birth of Eugenie’s third child, Adelaide Brooksbank, on August 3.
While both Eugenie, 36, and her older sister Princess Beatrice, 38, are believed to remain close to their mother, Lownie claimed Eugenie’s relationship with her father has become considerably more strained.
“Eugenie is still very cross with him, and I think he’s (Andrew) very cross with her,” he said.
“He’s been saying he feels betrayed by his family after all he did for them… And that doesn’t really help relations between him and his daughters.”
Lownie suggested Beatrice’s relationship with her father was different, adding: “Beatrice is kind of much more prepared to go along with him. She’s very much more under the thumb of Sarah Ferguson.”