Prince Andrew latest: Andrew ‘demands two new homes’ as condition of leaving rent-free Royal Lodge

The Metropolitan Police are facing calls to investigate Prince Andrew after the force repeatedly declined to open a full inquiry into claims that he slept with Guiffre in London when she was 17.

The Independent’s Amy-Clare Martin has reviewed what criminal allegations, if any, Andrew could face in Britain and the US.

Spending watchdog the National Audit Office has offered to help examine Prince Andrew’s financial arrangements that allowed him to live in Royal Lodge rent free, reports The Telegraph.

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, has previously called for a review of the NAO’s report on the deal from 2005, which granted him the 30-room mansion for a “peppercorn rent”.

Asked if it would consider reviewing its 2005 report into the Royal Lodge deal, the NAO told The Telegraph: “The Comptroller & Auditor General is in discussion with the Public Accounts Committee on this matter and will provide support as required.”

MPs could debate stripping Prince Andrew of his title and his rent-free living arrangements in the Commons.

The Government has so far refused to allocate time in the House of Commons for MPs to discuss Andrew’s situation because the royal family wants Parliament to focus on “important issues”.

But the issue could be raised on one of the days when ministers are not in control of the parliamentary timetable, according to political editor David Maddox.

A Liberal Democrat source indicated to the Sunday Times that the party could be prepared to use one of its opposition days to allow MPs to discuss Andrew’s behaviour.

Adelaide Cottage sits in Windsor’s Home Park, the private 655-acre royal park administered by the Crown Estate.

It is currently occupied by the Prince and Princess of Wales and their family, who are set to move to Forest Lodge before Christmas, leaving the cottage open to a new resident.

Adelaide Cottage has four bedrooms and was built in the 1831 as a cottage orne, or decorated cottage, for Queen Adelaide, the wife of William IV, to be used as a summer retreat.

According to Historic England, the public body which cares for England’s historic buildings and places, Adelaide Cottage is a “picturesque” two-storey stucco-faced dwelling with casement windows, and elaborate pierced bargeboards edging the roof.

The principal bedroom has a coved ceiling decorated with gilded dolphins and rope ornament reused from the 19th century royal yacht Royal George, and a good marble Graeco-Egyptian fireplace.

It was once home to Princess Margaret’s lover Peter Townsend, who lived in the grace and favour property in the 1940s with his first wife Rosemary to be on hand for the king in his role as equerry.

Frogmore Cottage is ultimately owned by the Crown Estate, but is used as a private royal residence and is not open to the public. Ownership of Frogmore Cottage is passed from monarch to monarch.

In 2019, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex moved into the property and used it as their official home base while in the UK. It was gifted to them by the late Queen Elizabeth after they married in 2018.

The payment “fully covered the necessary renovation costs of Frogmore Cottage”, which remains “the UK residence of the duke and his family”, Harry’s spokesperson said in 2020.

The couple last spent time at the cottage in 2022, when they came to the UK to attend the late Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations. They also hosted their daughter Lilibet’s first birthday there.

Sources have spoken of a growing sense of inevitability Andrew will leave Royal Lodge, despite his initial desire to stay.

They told The Sun he has agreed to move provided he can live in Frogmore Cottage, with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson nearby at Adelaide Cottage.

They explained: “Frogmore Cottage is too small for both and Adelaide Cottage is around the corner, so they will see each other whenever they want.

“Both have space for their daughters Eugenie and Beatrice and their families to visit”.

Prince Andrew could face scrutiny in the Commons over his title and rent-free arrangement.

The Independent’s political editor David Maddox reports that MPs could debate Prince Andrew’s conduct, his 30-room mansion and the possibility of stripping him of his dukedom.

You can read his full report below…