He may have lost all of his remaining royal titles, but there will be at least one benefit Prince Andrew will not give up for at least another 50 years – his grace and favour home in Windsor.
In a stunning fall from grace, the King’s brother announced he would no longer be known as the Duke of York and was stepping down from membership of the Order of the Garter – the country’s most ancient order of chivalry.
Andrew will also relinquish his position as Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victoria Order but he will remain a prince, having been born the son of Queen Elizabeth.
His ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, will now be known as plain Sarah Ferguson.
But the pair will continue to live at Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, will retain their titles, having been born into the Royal Family.
In a statement issued by Buckingham Palace on his behalf, Andrew made clear he continued to deny allegations of sexual assault made against him by the late Virginia Giuffre, who he met through paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
But he conceded continued revelations about his dealings with Epstein, as reported by The Mail on Sunday, were a ‘distraction’ from the work of the Royal Family.
Prince Andrew may have lost all his remaining titles, but he will continue to reside with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson at Royal Lodge in Windsor. Pictured: The pair at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral last month
Windsor Lodge, located just half a mile from the Wales’ new ‘forever’ home Forest Lodge, will remain Prince Andrew’s residence until 2078 thanks to a ‘cast-iron’ tenancy agreement
Both he and Sarah have become embroiled in recent weeks in damaging headlines that the pair were dishonest about having severed all contact with Epstein.
That led to the prince – following strong pressure from King Charles and in discussion with other family members, including Prince William, as heir to the throne, as well as Andrew’s other siblings, Princess Anne and Prince Edward – to relinquish his titles.
He had already being stripped of his HRH title and made to step down from public duties in 2022. Andrew was also cut off financially last year when the King decided to sever his ‘£1m a year’ allowance.
But Windsor Lodge, located just half a mile from the Wales’ new ‘forever’ home Forest Lodge, will remain his residence until 2078 – and as long as he can financially afford to do so.
It is understood Andrew has a ‘cast-iron’ tenancy agreement to remain at the 30-room, £30million property despite efforts by the King to ‘relocate’ him amid financial concerns.
Last year, Andrew was told there would be only ‘two possible options’ for him – one was to find a way of being financially independent by paying for his own expenses, which would cover his security and the maintenance on his home.
The second, according to sources close to the King, was for Andrew to move into ‘more suitable accommodation’.
Charles had encouraged Andrew to move into Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor estate, which is the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex before their move to California.
Prince Andrew will continue to live at the 30-room, £30million property, despite efforts by the King to ‘relocate’ him amid financial concerns
Prince Andrew’s statement released by Buckingham Palace on Friday
The cottage comes with being within the existing security cordon of the royal Windsor estate and was refurbished by Harry and Meghan.
According to reports, the King had wanted to ‘rent out Windsor Royal Lodge for £1million a year’ to generate commercial revenue from the stunning home.
But Andrew has been consistently reluctant to leave, having signed a 75-year lease with the Crown Estate when he moved in in 2003 on condition of making a £1million down payment and paying £260,000-a-year in rent.
There has also been the added complication of much-needed repairs to the buildings on the property and a bill for renovations estimated at around £7million.
A document revealed last year that Prince Andrew has to repaint his Windsor Royal Lodge with two coats of paint every five years.
The lease he signed in 2003 states he has a responsibility to ‘repair, renew, uphold, clean and keep in repair and where necessary rebuild’ the home.
This includes repainting its external walls every five years with ‘two coats of paint’ from 2008 and redecorating inside every seven years from 2010.
Situated in 98 acres in Windsor Great Park, the property was once known as King’s Lodge but its name was changed by the Duke of Cumberland when he became King George IV in 1820.
William IV demolished part of Royal Lodge and, for sixty years, senior members of the Royal Household used it mainly as a ‘grace-and-favour’ home.
In 1931, King George V gave permission for his son, Prince Albert, the Duke of York, and his wife to take over the property and they moved in the following year.
They used the 30-room Royal Lodge as a private country house, even after they became Duke and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1936.
Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret spent many happy days playing in the grounds and making use of Y Bwthyn Bach – the miniature thatched cottage that was given to the future Queen by the people of Wales to mark her sixth birthday in 1932.
The grounds of Royal Lodge include a gardener’s cottage and the Royal Chapel of All Saints, where Princess Beatrice and Edo Mapelli Mozzi married in 2020 in a ceremony attended by the late Queen and Prince Philip.
There is also a swimming pool and tennis court within the grounds of the property.
Royal historian Andrew Lownie said last night that he believes Prince Andrew was willing to ‘compromise’ relinquishing his titles on the basis he can retain his home.
‘As long as he can stay in Royal Lodge, as long as can have the shooting weekends, I think he’ll be content with this. This is probably a compromise position.
Virginia Giuffre photographed with Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell in London in 2001
‘In return for spending £10 million pounds on doing up Royal Lodge, he has been given a peppercorn rent there and a long lease, and it’s going to be quite difficult to get him out.’
Lownie however said that if Prince Andrew had thought about the ‘optics’ the disgraced royal should have also moved out of his mansion.
‘If he’s thinking of his family and the wider interests of the monarchy, he should be departing from Royal Lodge.’
It is understood that the King, who is believed to have spoken to his brother by phone from Scotland about the issue, feels ‘glad’ at the outcome. ‘Something had to be done,’ a source said.
Prince Andrew said his decision was prompted by his desire to ‘always… put my duty to my family and country first’ – echoing his infamous comment that he chose to break off relations with Epstein by flying to New York to tell him the news personally, because he was an ‘honourable’ man.
Last weekend, the MoS exclusively revealed that Prince Andrew had publicly lied when he claimed he never had contact with Epstein again following a ‘final’ meeting with him in December 2010.
It obtained emails sent 12 weeks after that meeting in which Andrew contacted the sex offender to reassure him, the day after a photograph of the prince with Ms Giuffre was published, that ‘we are in this together’ and would have to ‘rise above it’.
Sickeningly, Andrew concluded: ‘Otherwise keep in close touch and we’ll play some more soon!!!’ It was signed ‘A, HRH The Duke of York, KG’, as a knight of the Order of the Garter.
Andrew and Charles at Westminster Cathedral last month after the Duchess of Kent’s funeral
It was also revealed that Andrew met, on at least three occasions, the alleged Chinese spymaster at the centre of the current Whitehall espionage case.
Sources have told the Daily Mail that things came to a head this week after a ‘constant drip, drip’ of fresh claims, of which the MoS’s email revelations proved the ‘most significant issue’.
The changes will take effect immediately and were decided upon in recognition of the fact that the prince’s personal issues continued to be an ‘unwelcome distraction’ from the work of the wider Royal Family.
In a statement, the family of Ms Giuffre, who took her own life in April, said Andrew’s decision was ‘vindication for our sister and survivors everywhere’.
They added: ‘This moment serves as victory for Virginia, who consistently maintained: “He knows what happened, I know what happened, and there’s only one of us telling the truth, and I know that’s me”.’
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