Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty ImagesAndrew Mountbatten Windsor will not have to leave Royal Lodge immediately and could move to Sandringham as late as the new year, the understands.
On Thursday, King Charles moved to strip his younger brother of his titles and honours, and to force him out of his 30-room mansion in Windsor. He will be moving to a property on the King’s Norfolk estate, paid for by the monarch.
The dramatic statement came after months of pressure over Andrew’s private life, as his ties to disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein continued to dog the Royal family. Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing.
Sir Keir Starmer “fully supports” the Palace’s decision, Downing Street said, and echoed Buckingham Palace’s statement of support for Epstein’s victims.
Buckingham Palace has said the move from Royal Lodge in Windsor to Sandringham will take place “as soon as possible and practicable”.
But according to royal sources, a delay in Andrew moving until the new year would avoid the embarrassment of him being in Sandringham at Christmas – where the Royal Family traditionally gathers for the festive season.
Andrew will move to an undisclosed property on the privately-owned estate, with the accommodation funded by the King who will also make private financial provisions for his brother.
Sandringham was bought in 1862 by the then Prince of Wales, who later became Edward VII, as a private country retreat.
It is understood the move to remove was taken by the King in light of the serious lapses of judgment his brother made, and that his decision was supported by the royal family.
On Friday, the government said it had no plans to pass a law to formally remove Andrew from the line of succession – the only significant position he retains.
The titles he is being stripped of are: Prince, Duke of York, Earl of Inverness, Baron Killyleagh. And he will no longer have the right to be called His Royal Highness. The honours of Order of the Garter and Knight Grand Cross of the Victorian Order will also be removed.
The King sent a Royal Warrant to the Lord Chancellor to take Andrew off the list of peers, where he had been listed as the Duke of York.
He remains eighth in line to the throne but there have been calls to bring in legislation to stop any chance of him becoming King.
That could legally be done by Parliament, but it would have to be agreed with all the Commonwealth realms, as it would also affect their lines of succession too.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty ImagesAndrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, previously known as the Duchess of York, will make her own living arrangements.
The former prince and Ferguson have been divorced since the mid-1990s, but in recent years lived together at Royal Lodge.
Aside from her ex-husband, Ferguson has attracted controversy of her own.
Last month, several charities dropped her as patron or ambassador after an email from 2011 revealed that she called sex offender Jeffrey Epstein a “supreme friend”.
Their daughters, Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, are currently non-working royals, and will retain their titles as princesses, in line with King George V’s Letters Patent of 1917.
Their places in the line of succession will also stay the same, with Beatrice in ninth and Eugenie in twelfth place.
The controversy around Andrew has been rumbling on for years, but came to a head when he was accused by Virginia Giuffre of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.
Andrew has strenuously denied the allegations. He paid millions to settle a civil case with her in 2022, despite insisting he did not remember meeting her.
Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesOn Friday, court documents were published showing Andrew said it would be “good to catch up in person” with Epstein after the paedophile was released from prison for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
In an email on dated 15 April, 2010 Epstein suggested the then-prince should meet American banker Jes Staley, which Andrew said he was not able to do due to his schedule.
“I have no immediate plans to drop by New York but I think I should at some stage soon,” he told Epstein.
“I’ll look and see if I can make a couple of days before the summer.
“It would be good to catch up in person.”
The pair were later pictured together in Central Park in New York in December 2010 in a meeting Andrew claimed in his 2019 Newsnight interview was to break off their friendship.
Virginia Giuffre’s family said she had “brought down a prince” following the King’s decision.
Her brother Sky Roberts called for Andrew to be “investigated” and said the King’s decision to remove his titles was “not enough, in the sense that he’s still walking around a free man”.
“I mean, let’s not be naive, that he’s not going to be living on the side of the road here, he’s still in a very, let’s say, cushy spot… He should be investigated, let’s put it that way,” he told Sky News.
The UK trade minister Chris Bryant told the Andrew should, if asked, go to the US to answer questions about the crimes of Epstein.
“I think that, just as with any ordinary member of the public, if there were requests from another jurisdiction of this kind, I would expect any decently minded person to comply with that request,” he said.
Gloria Allred, who has represented victims of Jeffrey Epstein, said Andrew losing his title and grand home was “long overdue” and “definitely welcome”.
“This is a man who should no longer walk with honour. He should be ashamed of himself,” the American lawyer said.
Ms Allred has long called for Andrew to speak to US law enforcement about his former friend Epstein “under oath” – something he has “declined” to do so far, she said.
The Metropolitan Police has previously said it is “actively” looking into media reports that Andrew tried to obtain personal information about his accuser Ms Giuffre through his police protection.
