Andrew reportedly desperately tried to cling onto his Royal titles, as well as his 30-room Royal Lodge mansion before King Charles sensationally stripped him of them
Andrew allegedly tried everything to push back on having all of his royal titles removed and getting kicked out of his mansion.
Last night, Buckingham Palace revealed King Charles started the process of removing all royal titles from his brother – including ‘prince’. The King will also kick Andrew out of his 30-room Royal Lodge home, which he shared with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. Andrew gave up the use of his other titles, including the Duke of York, earlier this month following mounting pressure about his relationship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein – allegations which Andrew has strongly denied.
It was understood last night that the disgraced Royal did not object to the King’s decision and had Prince Williams support in deciding private factors.
But, The News Agents’ Emily Maitlis claimed sources “very close” to The King and Queen understood that Andrew had initially done everything he could to hold onto his titles and home.
Speaking to her podcast co-hosts Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, she said: “Contrary to what we read in the newspapers, I heard that originally there was extremely strong pushback from Andrew, who was trying to find every means and every reason he could to resist this.”
Maitlis also claimed that sources close to the Royals said discussions into the bombshell decision started on Tuesday. She added: “And I was speaking last night to those who are very close to The King and Queen, and from what I understand, the talks began again on Tuesday.
“People close to The Monarch were asked their thoughts on Tuesday night. The talks continued into Wednesday morning and were then signed off.
“And something, to be honest that I had not properly understood, and I think many in the media had not properly understood, was that Prince William was not actually the one driving this. We’d all understood that the real heft of this move came from Prince William.
“I was told last night that it is Prince William who’s most concerned about the state of his uncle’s mental health. Something that he takes very seriously, his work, Kate’s work, has been very close to the issues of mental health. And I was also told that there was a bit of discomfort, maybe that’s too strong.”
It is understood Andrew will move out of Royal Lodge and to the private Sandringham Estate, in Norfolk. Fury arose over the “peppercorn” rent deal for Andrew at the Windsor mansion, where he paid barely anything for the 20 years.
It was believed his move will take place as soon as practicable but it has since emerged this might not happen until after Christmas, because of the lengthy process of giving up his home.
Sandringham is the venue for the traditional Christmas gathering for members of the royal family and the delay will mean any potential encounter with Andrew over the festive period would be avoided.
