bitchy | King Charles will ‘force’ Prince Andrew to pay for his security & renovations

Last week, as Prince Andrew’s name appeared all over the newly unsealed Jeffrey Epstein files, the Daily Beast’s Tom Sykes spoke to some of Prince Andrew and King Charles’s “friends” about what would happen now. Would the institution keep trying to take things away from Andrew? Does Charles actually “support” Andrew to this day? Well, according to sources close to Andrew, his loyalty to the crown is not in question and Andrew likely briefed Charles and palace officials about what the Epstein files would contain so there would be no surprises. One friend said that Charles “doesn’t really have a choice” in supporting Andrew because “it would look much worse to suddenly ditch him all over again.” Still, one unnamed courtier noted, “This is not good day for them, and you have to wonder whether the policy of bringing Andrew back into the fold was the right one. Charles would be better off today if he had cut him loose.” It’s also being said that Andrew isn’t worried about a further fall from grace because “he will still be a prized guest at some of the best shoots in the country.”

All of this has the whiff of kabuki theater – the palace was clearly prepared for Andrew’s name to appear all over the Epstein files and they hoped to minimize it quickly and take away one more thing from Andrew and then carry on as usual. The one thing is Royal Lodge, Andrew’s 30-room mansion on the Windsor estate. Once Charles removes Andrew from Royal Lodge, they’ll all just carry on as usual. Apparently, Charles has a plan for evicting Andrew:

The Duke of York is set to be forced to fund future security operations at his Windsor home, The Telegraph can reveal. ‌The King is preparing to withdraw the private funding he ploughs into the security operation at Royal Lodge, The Telegraph understands. ‌To avoid being forced out of the 30-room property, Prince Andrew will need to conjure up the small fortune required to maintain security and upkeep. He has no discernible income, and the house is in need of extensive repairs.

‌The release of the documents revived questions about the Duke’s royal status. His determination to remain at Royal Lodge, which he shares with his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, has proved a bone of contention in recent months. ‌Attempts to relocate him to Frogmore Cottage, the Windsor property that until recently belonged to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have so far proved unsuccessful.‌

The Duke’s lease gives him the right to live in the property until 2078, but the contract includes a clause that he must maintain it to an appropriate standard.‌ One source said he would not be evicted “so long as he can fulfill his contractual obligations”.

[From The Telegraph]

Becky English at the Mail got the same palace briefing, that Charles has a plan to evict Andrew by forcing him to pay for renovations and security. Keep in mind, for years now, the monarch has covered Andrew’s security costs privately. First QEII and now Charles, Andrew’s extensive security bill has been covered without question. Now, according to English, Charles wants Andrew out of Royal Lodge by the end of 2024 and the king’s offer to “give” Frogmore Cottage to Andrew free of charge still stands.

Following the latest revelations over Andrew’s links with Epstein, multiple sources indicated to the Mail yesterday that the King was poised to take decisive action with regards to his brother. One insider told the Mail: ‘The fact that his name appears on the [Epstein] list will be no surprise to anyone, least of all His Majesty. But it will underline the need for him to maintain his [Andrew’s] ‘retired royal’ status. No matter how much he wants to come back, this association is just never going to go away. And that means he [Andrew] has to.’

First and foremost that means no return to royal duties, despite recent speculation of a thaw in the prince’s exiled status. Another source with understanding of the palace’s position on the matter says Charles has ‘long been firm on his thinking’ over this, even before he became King.

They added: ‘The duke was always very good at getting round their mother, the late Queen. Pressuring her quietly to support him. He was her achilles’ heel and she absolutely put her head in the sand over anything to do with him. The King loves his brother and hates confrontation but has had to make a ‘business’ decision.’

There are no plans to strip Andrew of his HRH title, his dukedom – given to him as a wedding present by his mother – nor other honours such as the Order of the Garter.

Charles’s offer of Frogmore Cottage, the five-bedroom home once lived in by Harry and Meghan, is still on the table. As well as being smaller, more manageable and having the benefit of being recently renovated, it is also closer to Windsor Castle’s ‘ring of steel’, meaning the cost of protecting Andrew would be significantly lower.

[From The Daily Mail]

Frogmore has “the benefit of being recently renovated” you say? Wow, that made me sick to my stomach. Harry and Meghan spent their own money renovating Frogmore, believing that it would be their family home for years to come, only to get evicted within months of QEII’s death. And now their home is being given away to a degenerate rapist. Anyway, all of this is a such a big snooze. One of two things will happen: one, the Windsors will make a lot of noise about evicting Andrew and then quietly forget about it in a few months or two, Charles will finally manage to evict Andrew and he’ll genuinely be happier at Frogmore, living free of charge.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.