There are understandable reasons why King Charles might want his younger brother to leave the 30-bedroom Royal Lodge, the Queen Mother’s former mansion on the Windsor Estate.
There is the need to reduce expenses, for example.
The King correctly identified the cost of the monarchy as a major and potentially dangerous political issue – which is why he cut the £250,000 annual grant Andrew received from their late mother each year.
Is it proper for a disgraced prince to live in such a style? Not everyone would think so. Also, Andrew’s kids are adults, so it’s not like he needs space.
Is sibling rivalry a factor in the ongoing feud between King Charles and Prince Andrew? Pictured: Prince Andrew and Prince Charles celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee at St Paul’s Cathedral on June 5, 2012
Royal Lodge, a £30million mansion on the Windsor estate (pictured) where Andrew has lived for 20 years, is now a major bone of contention between Charles and Andrew
The late Queen had a soft spot for Prince Andrew, her second son, and found it hard to say ‘no’ to him. The two are pictured in April 1980
And then there is the question of where Prince William, heir to the throne, should live with his young family.
For now, the Welsh are at nearby Adelaide Cottage, but few doubt that Royal Lodge is a more suitable home for a future king.
Yet I believe there are other, even more personal reasons that could color Charles’ determination to get his younger brother out of Royal Lodge. Reasons that are rooted in their own family history and are perhaps linked to one extraordinary episode in particular.
The first point is that their mother, the late Queen, had a soft spot for Prince Andrew, her second son, and found it hard to say ‘no’ to him.
Prince Philip, meanwhile, was proud of Andrew’s macho behavior and delighted that he had followed him into the navy.
It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that Andrew became rather pretentious, or that the differences in personality between the two princes led to comparisons that weren’t always favorable to Charles.
Despite all the love that existed between Prince Philip and his caring eldest son, it is also believed that the Duke of Edinburgh found Charles to be something of a headache.
Charles and Andrew are very different people – and that fact is worth remembering when it comes to the ongoing row over the future of the £30million Royal Lodge.
While Charles wants Andrew to downsize at the five-bedroom Frogmore Cottage, which is no longer used by Harry and Meghan, it would be completely understandable if the youngster felt there was a personal dimension to it. Requirement.
Queen Elizabeth with Prince Philip and their three sons, Andrew, Charles and Edward on holiday at Balmoral in 1979
The Queen, Prince Andrew, the late Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne on board an aircraft carrier in 2001 after Andrew’s return from the Falkland Islands. Philip was proud that Andrew followed him into the Navy
Andrew came to believe he would make a better king than his brother – and, according to author Angela Levin, he tried to persuade Queen Elizabeth to remove Charles from the line of succession.
King Charles wants Prince Andrew to downsize at the nearby five-bedroom Frogmore Cottage, which is no longer used by Harry and Meghan
As revealed by The Mail on Sunday, Andrew remains determined not to budge.
His children – including heavily pregnant Eugenie – are frequent visitors and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, spends much of her time there.
How long can he last? It’s hard to say. Andrew signed a 75-year lease with the Crown Estate, not the late Queen, and that lease still has a long way to go.
At the same time, however, he is contractually obligated to keep the mansion in good repair, and unless a generous benefactor shows up, he is unlikely to be able to afford to do so.
Even this battle over bricks and mortar is, in the larger scheme of things, nothing more than a spat. The brothers, with very different personalities, values and approaches to life, have been antagonists for some time.
Andrew, like Harry, was the “stand-in”, second in line to the throne until Prince William was born in 1982 and replaced him in succession.
Angela Levin believes Andrew, Fergie and Princess Diana plotted to sideline Prince Charles so that Prince Andrew could become regent to Prince William, then still a teenager. Pictured: Princess Diana chatting with Sara and Prince Andrew in 1987
Andrew worked to get the late queen to agree to their plan so that on her death William, not Charles, would be king with Andrew as regent until William was old enough to take the throne.
And he became convinced that he would do a better job than his more sensitive older brother.
A royal insider told me there had been talks between Andrew, Fergie and Princess Diana about how Prince Charles could be pushed aside.
This would have left Andrew as regent to Prince William, who was then still a teenager, thus putting the Duke of York on the throne.
As I explain in my book, Camilla, From Outcast to Queen Consort, Andrew went so far as to try to persuade the late Queen to go along with their plan.
And that he worked hard to stop Charles from marrying Camilla too.
“His behavior became very, very negative and extremely unpleasant by not being successful,” my source said.
Around this time – and amid much discussion about the merits of Charles’s marriage to Camilla – Queen Elizabeth had serious discussions behind closed doors with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George (now Lord) Carey.
Queen Elizabeth leaves St George’s Chapel with the Archbishop of Canterbury after a service to mark her Golden Jubilee
Andrew apparently claimed that Camilla was not aristocratic enough and should not be trusted. But he didn’t convince Queen Elizabeth these things were true.
When I was writing Camilla’s biography last year, Lord Carey told me he had spoken positively to the Queen about Charles’s marriage to Camilla, the woman he loved.
Nonetheless, I understand that the Queen has found herself continuing to discuss the matter with Prince Andrew.
The insider told me Andrew had been “pretty poisonous, mean, unhelpful and very mean to Camilla.”
Andrew had apparently felt that she was not aristocratic enough and should not be trusted.
If he had often seemed persuasive with the Queen, however, this time it didn’t work.
As a result, I am told, Andrew “remained so hostile to Camilla’s acceptance that it is doubtful she was ever forgiven”.
- Angela Levin’s updated biography, Camilla, From Outcast to Queen Consort, is published by Simon and Schuster at £20.00. To order a copy, click here.
