S Poddar
According to a new biography by royal author Robert Hardman, King Charles III has cut off all financial support to his brother, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York. The King apparently has withdrawn all funding — security costs and a personal allowance — for Andrew’s residence at Royal Lodge in Windsor, a 30-room estate he occupied from 2003.
Under pressure to fund the considerable maintenance and security costs of Royal Lodge, Prince Andrew is now in a tight corner financially. The claim that the King ordered the decision was published in the Daily Mail and features in a new edition of Hardman’s biography on King Charles, which reports that the Keeper of the Privy Purse, who oversees the royal finances, has been told to end these payments. Buckingham Palace authorities have not commented on revelations in the book. Up to now, Prince Andrew is mum.
As the BBC would put it, “he has, on many occasions publicly stated he would not fund his son’s lifestyle and security costs in perpetuity”. This new information clearly indicates that Charles has made up his mind financially to no longer support Andrew, and for Andrew to bear the heavy costs himself. The Lodge, a historic 19th-century estate is let off the Crown Estate, and its maintenance alone costs millions.
Prince Andrew’s royal standing has dramatically diminished in recent years. In reality, the prince stepped down from public duties after his scandal-plagued, widely publicized 2019 BBC Newsnight interview regarding his relationships with Jeffrey Epstein. He subsequently stepped down from his military ranks and royal patronages to live a private life at Royal Lodge, out of public service. A royal commentator describes this removal process as a “de-royalling,” moving him out of the formal obligation of royalty.
At the same time as renewed public interest in the story of Andrew and his funding there have come two recent films by Netflix and Amazon recounting his story. These productions revisit his BBC interview when he attempted to explain his ties to Epstein one of the most notorious US sex offenders. The fallout from this interview left long lasting impressions on his public image and role within the royal family.
Speculation is rife over Prince Andrew’s accommodations and finances following King Charles’s stripping off of his support. As reported by several sources, he may be given Frogmore Cottage-the home that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle once called their own-as it happens to be cheaper for the government. Frogmore falls under the ownership of the monarch and therefore might help lower his accommodation and security bills. On the other hand, Royal Lodge is owned directly by the Crown Estate, which can be seen as being commercially exploited in the future.
Under such pressure of downsizing, Prince Andrew still holds a personal lease on Royal Lodge until 2078. He made a large up-front payment when he leased the Lodge in 2003, reducing his costs over time. Reports from the National Audit Office reveal that Andrew spent over £7.5 million on refurbishment and paid a capital sum of £2.5 million to pay less in annual rent. He also paid a one-off money to his landlords, the Crown Estate, worth £1 million. His lease contains a provision whereby were he to vacate the Lodge before 2028, he would be entitled to a percentage of the renovation costs being partially repaid; this percentage reduces each year.
Since he will have retained relatively little of his original input if he departs the Lodge before 2028, Andrew may have a fiscal imperative to remain. However, he still faces the financial challenge of conserving and keeping safe the estate that the royal purse once paid for, and one suspects he will find this difficult to do. In this regard Hardman’s book is right when it quotes a confidential source as saying: “The duke is no longer a financial burden on the King.”
Charles III: New King. New Court. The Inside Story, by Robert Hardman, will be published by Macmillan on 7 November.
