A parliamentary committee starting to show interest in royal finances, particularly the lease on Royal Lodge, only added to the growing sense of crisis.
And if that were not enough, there was nervousness about MPs egging on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to formally remove Andrew’s titles through an act of parliament.
As one royal insider says: “There was a certain sense of alarm at the idea of MPs starting to intervene. If they took away Andrew’s title, what else might they do? Would they get a taste for this and decide to intervene in the line of succession by taking Prince Harry out of it? It is a can of worms that no one wanted opened.”
As the London Telegraph reported last week, Andrew and Charles’ representatives were already in “advanced talks” over Royal Lodge. Exactly when Andrew realised the game was up is not clear, but when the removal of the Duke of York title on October 17 failed to stem media stories about him, it became clear that more action was needed.
By the start of this week, it had been made clear to Andrew that he and former wife Sarah Ferguson, who’s now no longer Duchess of York, were being moved out of Royal Lodge, his 30-room home near Windsor Castle.
The terms of his removal had to be thrashed out: the questions of where he would live, where Ferguson would live, whether he would be compensated and what mechanism would be used to remove his titles were tied up in legal and constitutional complexities.
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Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Andrew and Ferguson’s daughters, also had to be reassured that they would not be affected or lose their titles, and the whole arrangement had to be agreed by William, the Prince of Wales, who will have to provide for Andrew if he outlives the King.
The prime minister also had to be brought into the discussions, as it was vital that any action taken by the King – particularly in relation to Andrew’s titles – had the full backing of the government.
Legally, the King could not evict his brother from Royal Lodge. Andrew was right in thinking that his 75-year lease was ironclad, meaning he had to be persuaded to give it up voluntarily, albeit under huge pressure.
Andrew himself had to serve formal notice to the Crown Estate, which owns the property, to surrender the lease, and courtiers have talked about a “negotiation” taking place, suggesting he may have been compensated, perhaps out of the King’s pocket. Andrew sank about £10 million ($20 million) of his own money into the property when he moved in 20 years ago, and under the terms of his lease, he was only entitled to about £550,000 for early termination. There is talk of remedial works being needed, which might reduce that amount even further.
Whatever the terms of their agreement, Buckingham Palace has made it clear that the King will make “appropriate” provision for his brother.
Having made clear he wanted to remain in Windsor so he could be close to his daughters and grandchildren, Andrew had at one stage thought he was going to be able to move into Frogmore Cottage, the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and that Ferguson would be found somewhere else on the Windsor estate. That was certainly discussed, but it threw up the same problems as Royal Lodge: he would be living, presumably rent-free, in a property that could, in theory, yield a rental income for the taxpayer.
The solution was obvious all along, though it took a long time for him to come to terms with it: he would have to live either at Sandringham or Balmoral, the King’s privately owned properties, where he would only be a burden on the King and not the taxpayer. In the end, he agreed to be housed in a modest property on the Norfolk estate. Ferguson will have to find her own home.
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If losing Royal Lodge did not bite deep enough, losing every one of his titles would have cut Andrew to the bone.
It was not a straightforward process. Constitutional experts consulted by the King advised him that because the Dukedom of York is a peerage, it could be formally taken away by removing it from the Peerage Roll.
To do that, he would have to send Royal Warrants to the Lord Chancellor David Lammy to remove the Dukedom of York from the Peerage Roll, along with the title of prince and the style of Royal Highness. The same process applied to Andrew’s other titles of Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh.
A Royal Warrant is a legal document authorised by the monarch, which requires the King’s signature. It can be used to make a public appointment (or in this case remove one), to create medals, creating Regius professorships of universities and various other functions.
Until now, few people realised it could also be used for the unprecedented step of demoting a prince to a mister.
The Telegraph, London
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