As parlour games go, the subject of who has stepped in to fund Prince Andrew’s future in the white-stuccoed grandeur of Royal Lodge, Windsor, has been the only one in play for weeks.
Since the revelation that the Duke of York had secured a cash lifeline for the 30-room mansion, the hunt for his mysterious benefactor has consumed London society.
Who, everyone wants to know, has the resources to go up against King Charles, following his demands that his brother downsize to the more modest Frogmore Cottage, once the home of the Sussexes?
Wealthy names from the Middle East to the Russian steppes have been in the frame, but now I can reveal there are some in aristocratic circles who believe the Prince’s secret patron is someone far closer to home.
In fact, he may own a rather grand property right next door.
They suspect the ‘eviction’ threat is an elaborate double bluff by the King. I have heard from multiple sources that, far from cutting Andrew off, Charles has personally cleared his errant brother’s bills for his upkeep and promised his Royal Lodge woes are taken care of, enabling him to stay there for the foreseeable future.
The question isn’t how he’s done it, but why. Why would the monarch cut through the chaos of Andrew’s finances and social life to salvage his brother’s position in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal?
The first person to suggest the King has opened his private purse on behalf of his brother was someone once close to Andrew.
King Charles with Prince Andrew. Charles has demanded his brother downsize from Royal Lodge to the more modest Frogmore Cottage
Royal Lodge is crumbling on the outside and cluttered on the inside, much reduced from its glory days as the Windsor residence of the Queen Mother
‘He [Andrew] just doesn’t have that many friends any more. He barely goes out, he’s not that welcome anywhere,’ says the source.
‘So it’s got to be family, and the obvious person is the King. I mean, why would anybody who’s not family want to give him money when they’re not going to get anything out of it except a lot of flack?’
Gone are the days when Middle East moneymen could bail out the Prince – as the disgraced Turkish banker Selman Turk once did to the tune of £1.4 million (which Andrew repaid in 2021).
With wealthy investors giving Andrew a wide berth, his money is likely to come from the Windsors, and with Prince William reluctant to indulge his uncle, enter Charles.
I would barely have believed it had the same story not been shared at another glamorous – and usually ultra-discreet – dinner table just a few days later. ‘Charles has paid for it all,’ revealed someone who’s been a guest at Royal Lodge in years gone by. ‘The King has cleared it. It’s all done.’
For clarity, my companion was adamant the funds were not from the public purse but from the monarch’s personal pocket. ‘Private funding,’ they confided.
Royal Lodge is crumbling on the outside and cluttered on the inside, much reduced from its glory days as the Windsor residence of the Queen Mother. It was there that Charles sought the company of his grandmother when his relationship with his parents was at a low ebb.Â
So could it be that this house has an emotional claim on him, which pre-dates his brother’s acquisition of the 75-year lease in 2003? Is it that Charles is protecting a place that is precious to him?
The Mail’s story last month
If that is true, could the King’s reasons for financing Andrew be less brotherly than practical? He’s known for his passionate interest in architecture and conservation. Charles knows that a lengthy stand-off over Royal Lodge, one that sees Andrew refusing to budge but unable to maintain the Grade II listed 19th- century mansion, could do irreparable damage to its fabric.
Finally there’s the argument put forward by the first person to share this claim with me: Charles simply can’t betray his brother.
We know the late Queen secured her eldest son’s happiness by asking her subjects to accept Camilla as Queen Consort. Is it the case that Charles has shown similar generosity to his brother, and is honouring the wishes of their late mother, which were that her second son should be looked after?
Were this correct, there’s probably a trail leading to the Duchy of Lancaster. That’s the property empire that provides the monarch with their personal wealth. While the Sovereign Grant, the official mechanism for supporting the King, is transparent, the Duchy is a more private matter between him and his accountants.
The net surplus of the Lancaster estate was £27.4 million in 2023/24, according to accounts published last July. That would be ample to cover Andrew’s costs.
My colleague Robert Hardman revealed last month that the King had stopped paying his brother’s personal allowance, thought to be in excess of £1 million a year, and his £3 million security bill.
Andrew’s expenses include the annual Royal Lodge rent of some £260,000, plus the estimated £400,000 needed to ‘repair, renew, uphold, clean and where necessary rebuild’ the property.
If my sources are to be believed, and Charles has taken personal financial responsibility for these lesser sums, it would be a double bluff worthy of a le Carre novel.
We may never know the truth, but royal watchers will shortly be able to gauge relations between the brothers. On Christmas Day there will be the traditional walk on the Norfolk estate. If Andrew is present at the invitation of the King, we can assume that blood – blue blood, of course – is proving thicker than water.
