Prince Andrew 'lets Royal Lodge fall into disrepair' after King tried to move brother into Frogmore Cottage

5 May 2024, 20:27

The Royal Lodge is crumbling despite Prince Andrew's promise to King Charles to renovate the £30m property after refusing to be evicted from his home of 20 years.

The disgraced prince has been living in the mansion for decades and survived an attempt to move him to Frogmore Cottage after his brother Charles became King.

As he survived the eviction attempt, Andrew promised to keep up the costs of maintaining the grace-and-favour home which are estimated to be around £400,000.

But pictures published in the Mail on Sunday show the home's iconic white paintwork crumbling and dirt marks over its facade.

Furthermore, cracks in the brickwork appear to be getting worse under the Duke of York's watch.

Andrew has no discernible income since he retired from royal duties in the wake of his disastrous Emily Maitlis interview.

The Duke was kicked out of the royal fold after he failed to adequately address questions about his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The Grade-II listed Royal Lodge reportedly has 30 rooms - and was given to Andrew on a lease from the late Queen Mother.

Andrew was originally granted a stay-of-execution in the mansion - but reports from earlier this year detailing allegations of an underage orgy involving the prince reportedly made King Charles resolve to get him out again.

This came years after Virginia Roberts Giuffre made claims about being made to have sex with the prince by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

A royal source said in January: “When it comes to family, it is difficult. But this association is just never going to go away. And that means he [Andrew] has to."

Sources also shot down reports that Andrew’s appearance at public events, such as the late Queen's platinum jubilee and church with the Royal Family on Christmas Day, indicated a potential change in position over his stripped patronages and military titles.

The source added: “The Palace can't ignore it, this isn't going away. He paid that vast amount of money to Virginia Roberts. If he thought the money was going to make it go away, it's had the opposite effect. It's given it legs. People think 'no smoke without fire'."

Andrew has strenuously denied claims against him and insisted he has no memory of encountering accuser Ms Giuffre.