Security pulled as Royals’ $57m feud explodes
Disgraced Royal Prince Andrew could be left homeless after a $57m feud between him and King Charles has exploded.
Disgraced Royal Prince Andrew could be left homeless after a $57m feud between him and King Charles has exploded.
Andrew is under new pressure to quit his Royal Lodge home after the King laid off its ten-strong security team.
Charles, 75, has told the detail they are no longer needed from the autumn, The Sun reports.
Over the weekend both The King and Andrew stayed at the Balmoral estate in Scotland as tension over the Duke’s mansion intensifies.
RELATED: ‘Unwelcome’: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ‘forced’ to downsize from $22m mansion
The King has been funding private guards at the 31-room Windsor pile since Andrew’s £3 million-a-year (A$5.82m) armed cops were removed in 2022 amid the US sex abuse case.
The disgraced Duke of York, 64, has lived at the A$57 million Royal Lodge, located on the grounds of Windsor Castle, since 2004 after he signed a 75-year lease agreement the previous year.
A Palace insider told The Sun: “Everyone is speculating this means the Duke will have to leave the Royal Lodge because what other reason could there be to take his security away?
“They are all working the final weeks of their contract till the end of October. It’s not thought anyone is being lined up to replace them.
RELATED: King Charles ‘miffed’ at being forced to pay rent by Prince William
“It isn’t a secret that the King wants him out.”
It is unclear what will happen to the team after they leave.
In May it emerged Charles was turning up the heat on Andy in a stand-off dubbed the “siege of Royal Lodge” — warning his brother’s life will become “increasingly cold and uncomfortable”.
Charles could even cut off the £4 million a year he pays to keep the Duke afloat.
Earlier this year The Sun exclusively revealed Andrew, who lives at the Lodge with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, had rejected the chance to move to nearby Frogmore Cottage, former home of Harry and Meghan.
MORE: NRL legend’s “perfect” $3m home for sale
Friends of the Duke say his “cast iron” 75-year lease on the Lodge means he has no reason to give up his home he has lived in for the past 20 years.
Palace sources have always insisted Andrew “remains the King’s brother” and is welcome at family events but will never return to public duty.
Andrew has previously been caught lobbying behind the scenes for the Home Office to reinstate his taxpayer-funded security perk.
He lost his round-the-clock Met Police security after he was summoned to Windsor Castle in January 2022 and stripped of his royal roles by the late Queen.
It came after he vowed to fight accusations of sexual assault by former Epstein slave Virginia Giuffre
The Duke ended up paying millions of pounds to Ms Giuffre and the case never went to court.
MORE: Gen Z, Millennials would give up sex for a home
He denies any wrongdoing
The fate of the Royal Lodge remains unclear.
The Sun reported the Royal Household would not move any Royals into the property but will look to find a new tenant.
William and Kate do not want to move their family to the Lodge from Adelaide Cottage. Two apartments at Kensington Palace are being refurbished but neither is being earmarked for Andrew, it is understood.
Andrew arrived at Balmoral on Friday for his summer break. The King’s removal van was spotted at the castle over the weekend.
Charles is set to move in — and host the extended Royal Family — after spending recent weeks at nearby Birkhall.
The Sun did not name the private security firm guarding Royal Lodge.
The firm and Buckingham Palace both declined to comment.
MORE: How tradie got $20m in property on $39k salary
Parts of this article originally appeared in The Sun and are republished here with permission.
Originally published as Security pulled as Royals’ $57m feud explodes