'No chance I'm going': Prince Andrew vows to stay in royal mansion despite King Charles slashing brother's allowance
23 February 2023, 23:10 | Updated: 24 February 2023, 08:11
Prince Andrew has pledged to keep living in his 30-room royal mansion, despite reports suggesting he was to effectively be evicted by King Charles taking away his allowance.
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But Andrew has said there is "no chance" he is leaving the Royal Lodge, his royal residence in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Andrew has lived in the Royal Lodge, which has a 98-acre estate, since 2003, when he secured a 75-year lease.
The property is expensive to keep up and already in need of repairs - and Charles is planning to cut Andrew's £249,000 annual allowance, according to reports.
But the Duke has said he has enough money to keep up the Royal Lodge, the Mirror reported, and has spent more £7.5 million on doing up the house.
Earlier reports claimed that Andrew felt that Charles was effectively pushing him to leave the Royal Lodge, where he lives with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, by cutting his allowance.
“It feels as though his brother wishes to evict him," a source told the Sun earlier. "Andrew and Sarah are distraught they have been given such short notice.
“The Queen died only a few months ago.
"He’s not being explicitly kicked out but it’s expected that he won’t be able to afford the maintenance.
“Royal Lodge has a swimming pool, 98 acres of land and is already in need of some repair.”
Read more: Prince Andrew 'thrown out of Buckingham Palace flat' by King Charles as he's told to stay away
The Duke of York will now only have his navy pension to rely on, with business investments not delivering much income.
"This is about Charles telling Andrew he can use his own money to pay for things," a source close to the monarch said, commenting on the decision to cut the Duke's allowance.
“The same goes for other members of the family, such as Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
“And while there is leniency with working members of the family, who have offices funded by the Sovereign Grant, there have been other examples.”
The source added: “Charles doesn’t feel he should pay for the upkeep of ponies to pull the carriage.
“He knows the public won’t want to see money wasted — particularly in the current climate.”
What's next for Prince Andrew?
Andrew was kicked out of Buckingham Palace after the Queen died, and stripped of taxpayer-funded armed police guard, although the King agreed to pay for private security.
The Duke also had a house, Sunninghill in Berkshire, as a wedding present from the Queen, but had later sold it to the billionaire son-in-law of the Kazakh president for £15 million.
