Prince Andrew 'feels entitled to stay' at Royal Lodge as he readies himself for battle

Prince Andrew is being pressured to move out of Royal Lodge, but there’s more to the story, a royal biographer has claimed.

The dispute began in 2023, when the Royal Lodge row started to populate headlines, and now it’s coming up again.

We turned to Andrew Lownie, historian and royal biographer, to ask him about this resurgence.

Mr Lownie is currently working on a joint biography, revolving around Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s marriage, and is currently conducting research, meeting with and speaking to people who know the now divorced couple.

The acclaimed author said: “Why is this coming up? Charles is a bit like the queen, he doesn’t want confrontation, I’m only speculating, but I think he had accepted the situation, they had had those battles, someone else is rattling the cage and my instinct is that it’s Andrew’s camp.”

Last weekend, there was a story about Royal Lodge in The Times and the journalist had access to Andrew’s lease, and the only way for that to be obtained would be from either Andrew himself, or someone in his camp, says Mr Lownie.

Mr Lownie said: “Someone leaked, at a very high level, to The Times, for their article on Saturday, and I don’t think it’s the king’s camp.”

He added: “I think there is a battle being played here — by Andrew — I don’t quite know what the game is, but he clearly wants to stay and feels he’s entitled to stay there.”

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Mr Lownie believes there are more Jeffrey Epstein files to be opened, which he learned through a credible contact, and leaking the Royal Lodge lease may be a distraction technique, drawing people’s attention away from the underlying issue, which has yet to be revealed.

In 2021, Virginia Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Andrew for sexual misconduct, that she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and coerced into having sex with the senior royal at the age of 17, which was settled out of court in 2022. Ms Giuffre was awarded an estimated £12 million in compensation, it's been reported. 

Mr Lownie said: “He’s clearly not taking this situation lying down, we may well see some developments in the next few months, there are more Epstein files that may possibly be opened in the next few weeks.”

He added: “I think maybe there is preparation for that, maybe that is why the press are bringing this story up.”

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His theory is that Andrew’s camp leaked the lease to present Andrew as a victim in this scenario, that he’s being kicked while he’s down, but according to Mr Lownie, Andrew isn’t down, it’s quite the opposite.

He’s living his life as normal, he’s playing golf, going riding, seeing friends, he’s traveling, he is not the pathetic figure that people are making him out to be, said the biographer.

Mr Lownie said: “He’s done nothing in the last five years since that interview to restore his public reputation.”

The author is referring to the 2019 Newsnight interview that resulted in Andrew being stripped of his HRH title and his royal duties.

He added: “If anything, I would say it’s gotten worse, he’s the most unpopular member of the Royal Family by a long way.”