In truth, Her Majesty, who became a member of the Royal family by marriage in 2005, is far less grand than Prince Andrew and is unlikely to want to live alone in such a large residence even for only part of the year.
She still owns Ray Mill House, the Grade II-listed family house in Wiltshire she bought with the divorce settlement from Andrew Parker Bowles, her first husband, and it is said to be the place where she feels most at home.
Earlier this year, she chose Ray Mill as the location for her official 78th birthday portrait, and in March the King bought the Old Mill estate next to Ray Mill to prevent it being turned into a wedding venue and ruining the Queen’s privacy.
In discussions about Royal Lodge, the Prince has been immovable in his opinion that he has every right to remain there.
He paid £1m for a 75-year lease on the property in 2003, and spent more than £7.5m renovating it at his own expense as part of the same agreement.
The Prince has argued that he has saved the taxpayer money by paying for the renovations – and the considerable annual upkeep of the mansion – out of his own funds and does not agree with the view of some MPs that he is costing the taxpayer money by living rent-free.
The Prince’s representatives have put forward the view that Royal Lodge could not be rented out by the Crown Estate – effectively an arm of the Treasury – because of security concerns over its proximity to Windsor Castle.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.telegraph.co.uk ’
