Disgraced ex-Prince Andrew is still reeling off demands and ultimatums about his future living arrangements, The Royalist can reveal.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
His reluctance to agree to a settlement is thought to be behind a new timeline emerging via leaks to U.K. newspapers that he won\u2019t move out of Royal Lodge for several months. This is even though the king\u2019s office previously said the move would \u201ctake place as soon as practicable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Incredible as it may seem to those who bought the palace line that he was disgraced and stripped of all privileges, Andrew is demanding a substantial six or seven bedroom house on the Sandringham Estate complete with staff including a cook, gardener, housekeeper, driver and police security, sources have told The Royalist.<\/p>\n
A friend of Andrew\u2019s told The Daily Beast: \u201cAndrew has done exactly what has been asked of him and he just wants to be left alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked to comment on <\/span>a report<\/a> in the British news magazine <\/span>Private Eye<\/em> this week which suggested that Andrew is still negotiating about where exactly he will live on the Sandringham Estate, the friend said: \u201cHe is giving up the lease on one of England\u2019s finest houses and expects to be treated fairly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A former courtier told The Royalist: \u201cKnowing Andrew, this was always going to be about money. Andrew is essentially being bought out of the lease, so he will haggle over every last detail of the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n The palace has previously admitted in background notes made available to members of the U.K. \u201croyal rota\u201d press pool and obtained by The Royalist that Andrew\u2019s<\/span> <\/strong>lease \u201chas legal force\u201d and that the king had to \u201crespect\u201d it and that \u201cthe laws of his own country\u201d required \u201cnegotiation\u201d between all parties, and that it is Andrew who must voluntarily surrender the lease.<\/span><\/p>\n This seems a fancy way of saying he was being bought out. <\/p>\n Andrew\u2019s reluctance to settle is being blamed in some quarters for a new timeline leaking out of the palace via the U.K. newspapers which suggests Andrew might stay in Royal Lodge for several more months to come.<\/p>\n The math of Royal Lodge explains Andrew\u2019s belligerence.<\/p>\n The former duke prepaid \u00a38.5 million (approximately $10.9 million) for a 75-year lease on the property, effectively purchasing a lifetime tenancy at the bargain rate of around \u00a3113,000 ($145,000) per year.<\/p>\n In commercial terms, that is ludicrously cheap: a thirty-room mansion on 90 acres in Windsor Great Park whose open-market rent could easily exceed \u00a31 million ($1.27 million) a year.<\/p>\n Given that he and his heirs stood to enjoy accommodation worth upwards of \u00a350 million ($63 million) on the open market for no further outlay aside from maintenance costs, it is unsurprising that he wasn\u2019t prepared to move without a payout.<\/p>\n Andrew\u2019s side had long pointed to his \u201ciron-clad\u201d lease, meaning that the King cannot simply remove him.<\/p>\n Not helping matters for the king this weekend: the revelation that the king\u2019s other brother Prince Edward has been paying rent of\u2014<\/span>checks notes<\/em>\u2014\u201cone peppercorn\u201d for his palatial home, Bagshot Park.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/a> It all leads one to wonder whether Beatrice and Eugenie are paying in units of condiments for their private pied-a-terre apartments on the king\u2019s London estate?<\/p>\n Newsletter readers: I\u2019ve unlocked <\/span>this story<\/a> about Meghan\u2019s mad claim that her being able to take whatever she wants from shoots was totally normal. The reason I unlocked it was that it got a fair few links from legacy media and people kept hitting a paywall, which I thought wasn\u2019t the ideal introduction to The Royalist.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!JS9Q!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8619dc59-ca43-4aa6-af2d-47f851653979_7506x5000.jpeg\")
<\/picture><\/div>\n