Andrew Reportedly Agrees to Leave Royal Lodge — But Harry and Meghan May Not Be Too Pleased
The disgraced Prince is reportedly eyeing Frogmore Cottage, the very home the Sussexes were told to vacate.
Prince Andrew is finally preparing to leave Royal Lodge, but not without setting some conditions — and they are bound to raise some eyebrows across the Atlantic. The disgraced royal has reportedly agreed to vacate the 30-room Windsor mansion on one condition: that he and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, are each given not one, but two new homes within the royal estate. And amongst them, his top pick has been Frogmore Cottage, the very same residence from which Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were evicted.
According to The Sun, Andrew told Palace aides that he would leave the lavish home he has occupied for more than 20 years if he could relocate to Frogmore, while Ferguson hopes to move into Adelaide Cottage, currently occupied by the Prince and Princess of Wales. A friend of the couple told the paper, “Andy is willing to leave, but these are his demands. He knows the writing is on the wall and that his time at Royal Lodge is up. If he must go, then he has asked for Frogmore Cottage. Incredibly, Sarah has said she wants Adelaide Cottage.”
This comes at a time when questions were already being raised about how King Charles could easily evict the Sussexes, but has not been able to put his foot down with Andrew, and as Prince William and Kate Middleton are to move their family from Adelaide Cottage to nearby Forest Lodge by the first week of November. “William wants him gone before they start to move in next week,” a Palace insider told the Daily Mail.
Andrew’s apparent willingness to trade one royal home for another has sparked mixed feelings within royal circles and will no doubt leave Harry and Markle fuming. After all, the Sussexes’ tenure at Frogmore Cottage ended abruptly, just days after the publication of Harry’s memoir Spare, which laid bare private family tensions. Despite having repaid the $3.2 million renovation costs and even renewing their lease in 2022, the couple was told to vacate the property, a move widely seen as the King’s way of drawing a line after they aired their grievances with the royal family publicly.
Andrew’s situation, however, could not be more different. Despite being stripped of his Duke of York title earlier this month and cut off from royal duties after his links to Jeffrey Epstein were exposed, he has managed to hold onto his Windsor base far longer than expected.
He also spent over $13 million refurbishing the property, meaning that if he gives it up, the Crown Estate may have to compensate him. For months, reports have come about suggesting that the monarch has been trying to nudge his brother out, even slashing his annual allowance to make the upkeep of Royal Lodge financially unsustainable. Until recently, Andrew resisted, pointing to the 'cast-iron' terms of his lease. “It’s a fresh start for both,” said one friend of Andrew and Sarah. “Frogmore Cottage is too small for both of them, but Adelaide is around the corner, so they’ll see each other whenever they want. Both have space for their daughters, Eugenie and Beatrice, and their families to visit.”
