LONDON (AP) — The latest chapter in the saga haunting the House of Windsor could be called “The Prince and the Peppercorn.”
Prince Andrew, who recently relinquished his formal titles after new revelations about his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is under pressure to vacate his royal digs where he lives nearly rent-free near Windsor Castle.
The demoted duke occupies Royal Lodge, a sprawling mansion that eclipses its modest name, for the sum of a single peppercorn a year — a nominal figure that dates back centuries to when the spice was rare and fetched a heftier price.
A steady stream of negative headlines about Andrew and Epstein in the past two weeks led the prince to renounce his titles, including Duke of York, as the monarchy tried to distance itself from decades of tawdry headlines about Andrew’s suspicious business deals, inappropriate behavior and controversial friendships.
But that has not been enough to silence critics who have called for more severe measures — including an act of Parliament to officially strip him of his dukedom, pry away his title as prince or oust him from his luxurious home.
King Charles III, who has skirted the scandal, nearly had to confront it face-to-face Monday when a heckler hollered at him outside Lichfield Cathedral.
The man was shouted down by others and eventually pulled from sight, but not before questioning how long he had known about his brother and Epstein and then asked: “Have you asked the police to cover up for Andrew?”
The incident captured on video was broadcast on evening newscasts. The Daily Telegraph’s front page headline Tuesday said: “Headache for the palace as King heckled over Andrew.”
British news outlets have reported that Charles previously wanted to evict his brother from Royal Lodge in the past over other uncomfortable revelations.
But questions about Andrew’s housing have multiplied after emails emerged earlier this month showing he had remained in contact with Epstein longer than he previously admitted.
That news was followed by publication of a posthumous memoir by Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who alleged she had sex with Andrew when she was 17. “Nobody’s Girl” detailed three alleged sexual encounters with Andrew, who she said acted as if he believed “having sex with me was his birthright.”
Andrew, 65, has long denied Giuffre’s claims, but stepped down from royal duties after a disastrous November 2019 BBC interview in which he attempted to rebut her allegations. Andrew paid millions in an out-of-court settlement in 2022 after Giuffre filed a civil suit against him in New York. Giuffre died by suicide in April at the age of 41.
Andrew has occupied Royal Lodge for two decades. He signed a 75-year lease in 2003 with the Crown Estate, a portfolio of properties that is nominally owned, but not controlled, by the monarch.
He invested a required 7.5 million pounds ($9.9 million) to refurbish the home and now resides there for the annual sum of a peppercorn, a symbolic figure often used to satisfy the legal requirement of real estate transactions.
With Andrew no longer a working member of the royal family, though, people have begun to ask how he can afford the upkeep with no known source of income beyond a modest pension from his 22-year Royal Navy career.
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, a minority party in Parliament, called for an inquiry into whether Andrew was being propped up by taxpayers and said the prince should have to testify.
“By disgracing his office, Prince Andrew has relinquished any rights to special treatment at the expense of the taxpayer,” Davey told the BBC.
Andrew lives in the estate with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, who is no longer known as the Duchess of York.
The British press reported that Andrew is in talks about leaving Royal Lodge, though it’s not clear where he would go.
One option floated is Frogmore Cottage, a smaller but lavish home still fit for a prince. The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan, lived there before giving up their roles as working royals and moving to America.
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