Former Prince Andrew left with 'no money' as King Charles relationship collapses
Royal author Robert Hardman has revealed the shocking extent of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s fall from grace as he faces financial ruin and family betrayal.
Disgraced royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is living in “poverty-stricken exile” and his relationship with the King is “not warm”, royal author Robert Hardman has revealed.
King Charles III stripped his younger brother of his royal titles in October after new details emerged of his ongoing relationship with deceased American pedophile Jeffrey Epstein - despite saying he had cut all ties - which has caused simmering tensions between the two.
Moves remain afoot for Andrew to finally depart the 30-room mansion, the Royal Lodge, in the new year, and reports this week revealed the lavish property fallen into a dilapidated state and needed urgent repairs.
Mr Hardman said the relationship between the King and Andrew is “workmanlike”, “certainly not warm” and the royal family have been left betrayed by the 65-year-old former prince.
“There was a time I think people expected, when Charles came to the throne, that he was going to be very tough on Andrew, he was going to kick him out of the house,” he said.
“Charles was pretty charitable certainly for the first couple of years but the more pig-headed Andrew’s been about moving out of that house … then it turns out he hasn’t been telling the truth about his relationship with Epstein, it’s caused irreparable damage”.
Mr Hardman has reported on the British royal family for more than three decades and spoke to this masthead at a Foreign Press Association event in London on Thursday (Friday AEDT).
In his latest book, he detailed further public humiliation the royal family are likely to endure as more details come to light of Andrew’s friendship with Epstein.
To date he has refused a request to front the US Congress and share any knowledge he had that could assist its investigation into Epstein.
In a letter to Andrew by the Members of the House Oversight Committee sent last month it said: “The committee is seeking to uncover the identities of Mr Epstein’s co-conspirators and enablers and to understand the full extent of his criminal operations”.
Mr Hardman said Andrew will not be seen out with the royal family at their upcoming Christmas Day celebrations at Sandringham either and he will remain out of the public eye for a long time.
In his book he wrote: “It is though precisely this potential for further surprises which make any prospect of public rehabilitation impossible for the Duke in the foreseeable future”.
Andrew has also hit “hard times” and it’s left in a bad financial state, Mr Hardman said.
“Up until the summer, Andrew’s view was, ‘I’ve got a lease on the house, I’m going to stay there and pursue private business activities and pay my own way’,” he said.
“Now it turns out that he wasn’t strictly true about Epstein so the King has taken all his titles, all his business deals have fallen apart, the guy’s got no money, he can’t keep the house standing.
“He’s going into a sort of poverty-stricken exile and I think the view is it’s entirely his doing”.
This week the King hosted German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a Christmas state banquet at Windsor Castle and among the 152 attendees included royals the Prince and Princess of Wales.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and model Claudia Schiffer were also at the banquet held inside St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle which featured a six-metre high Christmas tree.
As for the King’s health and ongoing battle with cancer, Mr Hardman said the monarch is optimistic about what lies ahead and is already planning his 80th birthday celebrations which are three years away.
“He’s in good spirits, this is clearly someone who is undergoing treatment for cancer after … two years,” he said.
“It’s one of the cases where I think he’s living with it, he’s not suffering particularly from it and certainly determined to keep doing a job.
“He hasn’t really missed any constitutional side of the role since his diagnosis.
“I understand he’s already giving a lot of thought to his 80th birthday party, so he’s looking forward and not backwards”.
The type of cancer the King was diagnosed with has never been made public.
Mr Hardman said the royal family’s relationship with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle also remains extremely strained - especially after the pair’s sit-down tell-all interview with US broadcaster Oprah Winfrey in 2021 and then the release of Prince Harry’s revealing memoir, Spare in 2023.
“The interview of Oprah Winfrey caused a lot of hurt in the family and some of the things in that interview turned out to be not accurate,” he said.
“I think there’s a feeling that that whole business could have been handled differently and they chose to blow it up”.
He does not expect the pair to return to live in the UK anytime soon.
More Coverage
Originally published as Former Prince Andrew left with 'no money' as King Charles relationship collapses
Kate, William turn on King over Christmas
