Race to extract Prince Andrew from Royal Lodge before William and Kate move into their ‘forever home’ next door

Prince Andrew is facing mounting pressure to quit Royal Lodge before the Prince and Princess of Wales move into their nearby ‘forever home’, it has been claimed.

Royal sources have told this newspaper that William and Kate want to move into Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park before Bonfire Night. 

The eight-bedroom home is just over a mile from Royal Lodge, where Andrew has lived for more than 20 years, and William is said to want his disgraced uncle out of his 30-room mansion by the time they move in.

Negotiations over the prince’s living arrangements are taking place on a daily basis amid a public outcry after it emerged he only pays a ‘peppercorn rent’ on the lavish property.

Andrew cannot legally be evicted from Royal Lodge under the terms of his ‘cast iron’ lease but Palace insiders believe he will inevitably have to move out because of the scale of public anger.

William and Kate are said to be keen to use the half-term break to prepare their children George, 12, Charlotte, ten, and Louis, seven, for their house move.

A source said: ‘Catherine shudders at the thought of living so close to Royal Lodge while Prince Andrew is still in it. William wants him gone before they start to move in next week. It’s not about what Andrew doesn’t want to do anymore. It’s about what he’s going to be told to do.’

The Waleses moved from an apartment in Kensington Palace to Adelaide Cottage, which is just over three miles from Forest Lodge, in August 2022. The MoS has learnt that they had previously wanted to move to Royal Lodge – but Andrew insisted on staying.

Prince Andrew is facing mounting pressure to quit Royal Lodge (pictured) before the Prince and Princess of Wales move into their new home

Forest Lodge (pictured) in Windsor Great Park has been dubbed the Waleses’ ‘forever home’

Andrew (pictured) cannot legally be evicted from Royal Lodge due to his ‘cast iron’ lease but Palace insiders believe he will inevitably have to move out because of the scale of public anger

‘Them going into Adelaide Cottage was never the plan,’ one well-connected source said last night. ‘But they were forced to because Prince Andrew wouldn’t shift.’

Earlier this year, however, the family set their hearts on Forest Lodge, a Georgian mansion where they hope to raise their children in a more relaxed, rural setting and remain hands-on parents.

Royal Lodge and Forest Lodge are a short walk from each other, with both nestled in quiet corners of Windsor Great Park. Andrew regularly goes horse-riding in the fields and woodland nearby.

Sarah Ferguson, Prince Andrew’s ex-wife who also lives in Royal Lodge, was said by one insider to have been excited about the prospect of the Waleses and their young children being neighbours.

But outrage following a blizzard of revelations in The Mail on Sunday in recent weeks about Andrew and Fergie’s links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein is said to have convinced Buckingham Palace that the couple must move out.

Royal author Andrew Lownie said: ‘King Charles is now trying to be a bit tougher and I think he sees the reputational damage to the monarchy. I think they realise they need to get a grip on it.’

A source tells today’s Sunday Times that Charles should ‘say to [Andrew’s] face, “There’s no choice here, you must leave Royal Lodge. Whatever the lease says. You say you always put your family and country first. Prove it.”‘

The MoS can reveal that, after being forced to relinquish his remaining titles, Prince Andrew has dropped ‘Duke of York’ from Companies House records for his defunct business initiative firm Pitch@Palace. 

And Sarah Ferguson has dropped ‘Duchess of York’ from her social media accounts.