King Charles 'blocks Andrew's £32k-a-year bill for live-in yoga guru', telling younger brother to pay himself
11 March 2023, 08:01 | Updated: 11 March 2023, 17:01
King Charles has reportedly told Prince Andrew he will no longer foot the bill for his live-in yoga instructor.
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Prince Andrew had submitted the £32,000 annual yoga fees to the privy purse, expecting it to be given the green light without any further questions.
But King Charles, Andrew's older brother, has told him that he has to pay for the live-in yoga instructor himself.
The Duke of York has been using the yoga teacher for several years, the Sun reported. The guru comes to live with Andrew in the Royal Lodge for a month at a time.
The instructor, a man, is said to work with Andrew using chanting, massages and holistic therapy.
The Queen used to sign off the yoga bill every year, but Charles is proving more parsimonious with the royal purse strings.
The King has reportedly told Andrew that indulgences such as the expensive yoga instructor are hard to justify in an era of belt tightening among the British public at large.
"The treatment, it must be said, is very expensive," a source told the Sun.
"While the Queen was always happy to indulge her son over the years, Charles is far less inclined to fund such indulgences particularly in an era of a cost-of-living crisis.
"Families are struggling and would rightly baulk at the idea of tens of thousands paid to an Indian guru to provide holistic treatment to a non-working royal living in his grace and favour mansion.
"This time the King saw the bill for the healer submitted by Andrew to the Privy Purse and thought his brother was having a laugh.
"In the past these types of expenses would be signed off no questions but that is not the climate in the new era."
It comes after Prince Andrew has been lobbying for the prestigious role of managing the Royal Family's estates, including Queen Elizabeth's beloved Balmoral, but the King has told him 'no chance'.
King Charles has reportedly told the Duke of York that he has to move out of his Royal Lodge in Windsor due to planned budget cuts.
Prince Andrew is thought to have been offered Frogmore Cottage, previously used by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but the 63-year-old has offered to run some of the family's most prestigious estates instead.
What's next for Prince Andrew?
His demands come as he tries to rehabilitate his public image and take on more responsibility within the Royal Family.
"Andrew is insisting on having a job despite being made to stand down from his duties and now he's being kicked out of his home," a royal source told the The Mirror.
King Charles also told his brother "there is no chance of that happening", according to the source.
