Andrew’s Sandringham Move Leaves Locals Fuming: ‘They’re Dumping Their Royal Rubbish on Us’
As Andrew makes a move from Royal Lodge to Wood Farm, locals are making one thing clear: they won't be laying a welcome mat.
The village of Wolferton has long been a haven of Norfolk tranquility, but the arrival of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has brought a cold front to the King’s Sandringham Estate. As the former Duke of York trades his grand Windsor residence for a more modest life in the country, the residents are making one thing clear: they won't be laying a welcome mat.
On February 4, the transformation of the village was immediate. The narrow lane by St. Peter’s Church, usually undisturbed, was choked with press cars and television crews hoping to get a sight of the disgraced royal. Overhead, the noise of media helicopters centered on the entrance of Wood Farm Cottage — his temporary residence — felt more like a burden for the locals, who had a lot to say.
Speaking to The Independent anonymously from the doorstep of her house in Wolferton, a female resident was blunt with her assessment of the situation, expressing her frustration with the sudden loss of privacy. “The press are all down there,” she highlighted, noting, “The villagers don’t like that. It’s a quiet village.” While the disgraced royal is expected to move into Marsh Farm permanently by April once renovations are complete, locals question why he has been placed so close to the public eye. “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,” she added.
The woman suggested that instead of Wood Farm, the former Prince should have relocated ‘out in the woods’ around trees and greenery, where there are no other houses. For her, Mountbatten-Windsor being in a property in Wolferton was “too close to the road,” and “you’re always going to have reporters.”
The sentiment at the Sandringham Visitor Centre was equally frosty. Despite the stripping of his royal titles and his retreat from public life following the Epstein controversy, many feel that the move to a royal estate – even a smaller farmhouse – is far from a punishment.
83-year-old Abraham Bruin, a former plant nursery worker from West Walton, didn’t mince words about the optics of the move. “I’m a little bit flabbergasted myself. If he’s an outcast and living on the estate, he’s not an outcast, is he?” Bruin observed. Others pointed to the perceived hypocrisy of a disgraced figure continuing to live subsidized by the Crown. A woman noted that despite the change in address, the lifestyle of Mountbatten-Windsor likely remains unchanged. She said, “Really, he’s going back to luxury, isn’t he? He’s being waited on hand and foot.”
The strongest condemnation, however, came from a resident who saw the move not as a homecoming for a family member but as a slight to the Norfolk community. “They’re dumping their royal rubbish on us,” she remarked flatly. Another individual echoed the desire for Mountbatten-Windsor to remain invisible, even if he is now a neighbor. “As long as we don’t see him. He will be hidden away somewhere. He will have all the things he needs,” they argued.
While the disgraced royal technically retains the lease on Royal Lodge until October, the substantive part of his move to Sandringham is reportedly complete. But the people of Wolferton are definitely not happy about him being so close to them.
