Prince Andrew – or should we say, the royal formerly known as Prince Andrew – has been stripped of his remaining royal titles and asked to leave his Royal Lodge home. The move, handed down by King Charles III and announced by Buckingham Palace, comes after mounting public pressure in light of Virginia Giuffre's posthumous memoir, Nobody's Girl.
Since the memoir's release, there's been a renewed spotlight on Andrew – who will now go by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor – and his alleged ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. While Andrew has consistently denied any of the claims made against him, Buckingham Palace considered there to have been serious lapses of judgment in his conduct and, as such, initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles, and honours of the late Queen's son.
With Andrew now stripped of his titles and effectively served an eviction notice on the Royal Lodge home he has lived in for decades, royal fans have been left with a lot of questions, including: where will he live now? Scroll on for details...
Where will Andrew live now?
Speculation about where Andrew might move to if (and, evidently now, when) he was asked to leave Royal Lodge has been making headlines this month. Prior to yesterday's statement from the King, there had been reports that Andrew's watertight lease at Royal Lodge would be a difficult one to get around. Despite that, some royal sources said Andrew had suggested a solution – that being, he would give up Royal Lodge and move into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's former home, Frogmore Cottage.
That plan is now totally out of the window, however. The King's decision to strip Andrew of his titles and Royal Lodge lease means he no longer has the grounds to "demand" where he moves to next, and will be relocated "as soon as practicable," per the statement.
As for where that relocation will be. According to the BBC, Andrew will be moved to the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk at the King's expense – not the taxpayer's.
Everyone's clicking on...
Will Andrew move to Wood Farm, Sandringham?
Sandringham Estate is big, like, really big. It covers approximately 20,000 acres (8,100 hectares) with 600 acres (242 hectares) of gardens, and there are multiple buildings situated across the land (150, if we're being specific). The Estate has been the private home of five generations of British monarchs for more than 150 years, and is typically where the family gathers for special occasions, including Christmas – although Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, have already been uninvited from that this year.
So far, Buckingham Palace has not confirmed which of the 150 properties on the Sandringham Estate Andrew will live in. Earlier reports, however, indicated this could be Wood Farm, a five-bedroom farmhouse where his father, Prince Philip, lived during his retirement. Another option includes York Cottage, which was previously used by the Royal Family as a holiday home.
