Put a finger down if you’ve refused to leave your home even though it’s a literal construction zone thanks to roof repairs because you’re scared that if you do leave, you’re going to be permanently evicted. *somewhere out there, Prince Andrew puts down a finger*
Yep, turns out the latest royal 🍵 has to do with the fact that the disgraced duke is reportedly determined to stay in his Windsor home, the Royal Lodge, while roof repairs are being done because he fears being permanently ousted should he leave.
Andrew—who shares the enormous 30-room property with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson—is allegedly financing the renovations himself. But multiple reports claim that Andrew fears he won’t be able to afford the home’s general upkeep once his brother King Charles cuts him off from his £249,000 (roughly $311,000) annual allowance. A source commented on the matter to the Daily Mail and said, “It’s become farcical.”
“Andrew has roof repairs scheduled later this summer which will take several months to complete, and he has been advised that staying in the house during those renovations could prove problematic. But he is reluctant to leave,” the insider said.
Initially, Andrew claimed he couldn’t afford to do the roof repairs on the Royal Lodge, which allegedly gave Charles the perfect excuse to force him out and replace him with someone who could afford the project. But because the Duke of York wound up being able to finance the revamp after all, the eviction was stalled.
What’s more is that the King offered his brother Frogmore Cottage, the residence where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle used to live. But in a truly wild Uno reverse move, Andrew actually loaned it to his daughter Princess Eugenie for the time being. “He’s allowing Eugenie to stay there. She’s just given birth to her second child, so while she recovers and gets back on her feet, she’s staying in Frogmore to be near her mum and dad,” a royal source dished to Page Six.
Meanwhile, Prince William and Kate Middleton, who are next in line to move into the Royal Lodge, reportedly aren’t sweating the wait, although it definitely isn’t ideal. “William and Catherine have resigned themselves, for now, to staying in their small house [Adelaide Cottage], but it won’t work in the long term,” the Page Six source added. “There are four bedrooms, which just about fits them all, but they need space for staff and for offices. They desperately want a larger property for their family in the Windsor area and discussions were originally focused on Royal Lodge. But Andrew was having none of it and is adamant that he will see out that end of his lease at Royal Lodge.”
All of this ^^ said, it is important to consider that the sitch is probably further complicated given that not only has Andrew poured millions into the home already, but he may be expecting his 75-year (!) lease on the home—which he acquired after the death of his grandmother the Queen Mother—to be honored.
Awk times indeed!
Assistant news editor
Gretty Garcia is the assistant news editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers all things news, entertainment, and pop culture. Before joining Cosmo, Gretty was a social strategist for Mrs. Dow Jones and a features and special projects editor at Editorialist. She holds an MS from the Columbia Journalism School and studied art history at Harvard College.